Forced vomiting ends a precious life

By Samantha Pradeep Wilthera
A police sergeant who sought treatment in the form of a shanthikarma from a temple in the Rasnayakapura area to rid him off the effects of an alleged poisoning, had been subjected to a forced vomiting that lasted two days and at the end of which he died helplessly.

  
Sources revealed that Police Sergeant M.M. Sunil Herath (49), father of three children and a resident of Kotawehera, Kadawalagedara who was serving at the Nikaweratiya Police headquarters visited a Temple on the advice of one of his friends. At the temple, he was informed by the lay priest (kapurala) who had said that the sergeant had been poisoned along with his wife and children, and the entire family was under an evil spell. The lay priest urged the Police officer to perform a special ritual to invoke blessings of Deities and to indulge in forced vomiting to get rid of the poison that had been fed to him. He also had handed him a list of items that were needed for this special Pooja.   

Sunil Herath had a high regard and faith on the lay priest. As advised he visited the temple with the essentials but was asked to come on the following day with his wife and daughters aged 22,16 and 12 to the temple.   

At nightfall the lay priest who had arrived at the temple invited the sergeant, his wife and the daughters to the inner chamber of the temple. After ordering everybody to remain calm and meditate with their eyes closed, the lay priest was chanting. In a few moments, the sergeant and his second daughter felt dizzy but not the youngest daughter. Observing this situation, the lay priest had declared that all the family members -- other than the youngest daughter -- have poison in them. 

Having said that, he had immediately resorted to cutting of lemons and performed a ritual. As the night advanced, he again cut a melon and said it was time for a forced vomiting. He gave a liquid for the whole family to consume. No sooner they did, the sergeant and his wife had an urge to relieve themselves. In the meantime, they started vomiting too. The sergeant had gone to relieve himself and started shivering. Observing this scenario, the lay priest said that as the sergeant had stepped out of the temple compound, the rituals had become inefficacious and told him to drink the remainder of the fluid.   

As the first day’s ritual was unsuccessful, he was asked to come again the following night. The same ritual was continued and the sergeant was given another dose of the fluid. The very next moment after consumption, he became restless and started screaming that he felt nausea but couldn’t vomit. As this peculiar condition aggravated, the sergeant was taken to the Nikaweratiya hospital by his wife and the lay priest around 1.30 am on the 27th. But the police officer was found dead on admission. The body was then taken to the Kurunegala Hospital for post mortem. Following an open verdict, the JMO had instructed that body tissues be sent to the government analyst for further investigation.  

 
The OIC of the miscellaneous complaints unit of the Nikaweratiya Police Sudharsana Senevirathne asserted that judicial procedures were being followed in respect to this incident. Meanwhile the lay priest and his wife had fled the village and the police had launched a man hunt to apprehend them.  
The police witnessed a number of fowls that were brought to the place as offerings, lemons and melons in aplenty. The culprit’s mother had been vehemently opposed to her son’s activities, it was learnt.