Sri Lanka investigates alleged case of tsunami child sale

Sri Lankan authorities are investigating an alleged attempt to sell two children orphaned by last month’s tsunami, police said today.

A 60-year-old man tried to sell the children, aged 12 and 13, in Balapitiya, near the hard-hit southern city of Galle, said police officer W Wijesena. Police, however, were tipped off of the sale and arrested the man yesterday, he said.

The suspect was released on bail, Wijesena said. He didn’t give details about the suspect or the attempted sale, and said the authorities were still investigating the case.

The fate of the children was not immediately clear.

The children are among scores who have lost their parents in the December 26 tsunami that killed about 31,000 people in Sri Lanka.

The United Nations and international aid agencies have expressed concerned child traffickers could take advantage of the situation, and try to sell orphans into forced labour or the sex trade.

Sri Lanka, like neighbouring India, has strict rules on adoption, and has said it will not change those regulations despite the tsunami.