The parents of a three-month old Tsunami surviving baby in eastern Sri Lanka were arrested following a court order that the baby be subject to a DNA verification test to determine whether they were the actual parents of the infant.
Urged by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), the district judge in the eastern town of Kalmunai M.P.Mohideen Wednesday issued the order for DNA tests despite the claim by the parents Murugupillai Jeyarajah and his wife Juanita.
The baby came to be known as the "baby 81" because it was the 81st victim admitted to the hospital more than 200 kms away from Colombo on Dec. 26 when the killer Tsunami tidal waves struck the country's coastal lines.
The baby was found miraculously alive among the debris after the disaster.
As many as six sets of different parents had shown interest to adopt the baby boy but only one couple had claimed the son was theirs.
Murugupillai and Juanita claimed that any documentary evidence they had to prove the boy was theirs were lost in the disaster.
The couple came to be arrested as they allegedly stormed the hospital to take the baby away.
Clashes with the hospital staff led the police to intervene and arrest them, the police said.
Doctors said the DNA tests would take a long period of time and the samples could only be tested in the capital Colombo.
The next court hearing is fixed for April 20. The baby is to remain in the care of hospital staff until then, officials said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2005)
