DNA tests ordered to determine if couple are Baby 81’s parents
The judge also said he would consider ruling on the case much earlier than the April 20 date he previously set, raising hopes of a quick resolution to the couple's agonising custody battle.
Judge MP Mohaideen ordered DNA tests to determine whether Jenita Jeyarajah and her husband, Murugupillai, are the parents of the boy, who was found on a beach amid bodies and debris nine hours after the December 26 tsunami struck the Indian Ocean island.
Mohaideen said yesterday that the child would have to remain in a hospital's care until he reconvenes in Kalmunai to hear test results on April 20. The couple were dismayed about waiting so long, and later barged into the hospital with supporters to claim the baby.
The Jeyarajahs and two supporters were arrested after being accused of roughing up nurses. They reappeared before the judge today, who let them off with a warning.
He ordered the couple to report to a laboratory in the capital, Colombo, for the DNA tests next Wednesday. He said the UN children's agency would pay the expenses.
The baby is to be taken to Colombo an eight hour drive from Kalmunai under police protection.
Harendra de Silva, head of the government's Child Protection Authority, said the DNA tests could be completed within eight hours.
SHM Manarudeen, a lawyer for the authority, said that once tests are complete he planned to ask the court to reconvene sooner than April 20 so the issue could be settled more promptly.
The judge, who originally had said April 20 was the first available court date, said yesterday he would consider a request to decide the case more quickly.
"Don't fight," Mohaideen told the couple today. "Your baby is your baby. They will give your baby to you, but please get the test done. The government will give you the baby if the DNA test says it is your baby."
The couple welcomed the ruling.
"At last God is smiling on us," Jenita Jeyarajah said.
The battle over the child has become a symbol of the anguish of thousands of families who lost children in the disaster.
Besides the Jeyarajahs, eight other women have stepped forward to claim the boy, called Baby 81 because he was the 81st admission to the hospital the day the tsunami hit.
The Jeyarajahs, however, are the only couple to file a formal custody claim. They say records proving they are the parents of the child were lost in the tsunami.
The Jeyarajahs say the child's real name is Abilass, and that he was born on October 19. They say he was pulled from his mother's arms when the tsunami hit.
