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| Friday, 25 February 2005 |
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COLOMBO, Thursday (AFP) - The celebrated tsunami baby who was reunited with his parents after a heart-wrenching legal battle is to fly off to the United States this weekend, the baby's father said Thursday. Murugpillai Jeyarajah said that he, his wife Junita, baby Abilash and Samithamby Sri Skandarajah, the man who had found the mud-covered boy under a pile of garbage after the tsunamis smashed into Sri Lanka's shores on December 26, will travel to New York. The visit is being organised by US television network ABC News. "We will interact with the media there and tell of our experience in getting back our baby," Jeyarajah told AFP. "We are going to get our passports this (Thursday) morning and then apply for a tourist visa." The four-month-old boy, popularly known as "baby-81", gained world media attention for surviving the tsunami and for the subsequent legal battle his parents endured to prove he was their child. The Jeyarajahs eventually established their paternity by undergoing court-ordered DNA tests and were only reunited with baby Abilash on February 16. The story triggered a rush of journalists to Kalmunai where the drama surrounding the "miracle baby" was unfolding. Some reports said nine mothers were claiming the baby as their own but these were dismissed by police and by the Kalmunai court where the case was heard. The tsunamis killed nearly 31,000 people in Sri Lanka and initially made a million homeless. |
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