Sri Lankan accused of trying to sell granddaughters

BATAPOLA, Sri Lanka – Police have arrested a 63-year-old Sri Lankan man on charges of trying to sell his two young granddaughters after their home was destroyed and their mother killed by the Asian tsunami – a case that highlights the vulnerability of children in the wake of the disaster.

The United Nations and international aid agencies have expressed concern that child traffickers are exploiting the chaos in countries hit hardest by the tsunami and trying to abduct and then sell orphans into forced labor or the sex trade.

“There is definitely a danger. The opportunity is there. The situation will attract (traffickers),” said Udaya de Silva, a police inspector in charge of crimes against women and children in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

The arrest Monday of A.H. Somadasa at a relief camp in the southern village of Batapola was the first official case of child trafficking in Sri Lanka since the tsunami – a country with a history of pedophiles and sex tourism.

In Indonesia, where there have been confirmed cases of attempted child trafficking, the concerns are serious enough that the government has placed restrictions on youngsters leaving the country, ordered police to be on the lookout for trafficking and posted guards in refugee camps.

Somadasa was brought before a magistrate Tuesday in the coastal town of Balapitiya and released on bail, police Inspector W.D.T. Wijesena said. The two girls, age 7 and 9, were released into the custody of their father.

The suspect’s lawyer, Sumith Dhammika de Silva, insisted his client was innocent, saying there was no evidence Somadasa tried to sell the girls. He said two foreigners had come to the shelter offering to help the family but apparently had secret intentions of buying the children.