On the day his son became a lawyer, he bowed and said that his parents would not have to suffer anymore.

I have two sons. My elder son was killed by a gunshot. My husband and I worked as laborers to educate our younger son well. In addition to working as a laborer, my husband also tapped kithul toddy for hire. In 2003, my husband fell from a kithul tree and became bedridden. He couldn't do any work. After that, I took on the burden of the family.

 I went to tap rubber latex. I also did manual labor. We suffered greatly, without proper food, to send our son to university. This innocent, golden boy, whom we educated to become a lawyer through unbearable hardships, and his wife, were shot and killed.

My daughter-in-law was like my own daughter. She was a person with wonderfully good qualities, said Mrs. G.P. Deepani (63), the mother of Attorney Buddika Gayan Mallawaarachchi, who was shot dead by two underworld gunmen while in his car in the parking lot of a supermarket in Athurugiriya, Akuregoda, with tears in her eyes. Attorney Buddika Gayan's mother, Mrs. Deepani, and his father, Mr. Amarapala Mallawaarachchi (72), reside in Godamuna village, Pitigala, Elpitiya.

Both she and her husband are still in unbearable pain from the untimely demise of their younger son. The bunch of bananas and the bag of vegetables grown in the garden, which were prepared to be taken to son Buddika and daughter-in-law Nisansala, can still be seen kept in a corner of the house.

On the very day he called to say he would come late at night to pick up his mother and father to their house in Athurugiriya, Dayan's and Samarapala's beloved elder son and his beloved wife tragically fell victim to two underworld gunmen.

Mrs. Dayani, the mother of Attorney Buddika, also said this: "We are very poor people. We endured unimaginable hardships to earn our daily bread. In the early days, we lived in a wattle-and-daub house. My husband tapped kithul toddy. I did manual labor. I went to tap rubber latex. I had to climb hills to tap rubber latex. We had no other income of our own. We both made every effort to raise our two children. On some days, we both drank a little cold water to quench our hunger and the hunger of our children. My husband fell from a kithul tree while tapping it and became bedridden. That was around 2003. After my husband became bedridden, he couldn't do any work. Because of this, I became even more helpless. I endured even more unimaginable hardships, taking care of my bedridden husband and raising our two children. But I had great inner strength and courage. My elder son was very clever at studying from a young age. Both my elder son and younger son understood well the immense suffering I, as a mother, was enduring. Because of our poverty, neither of them bothered us by asking for unnecessary things."

Despite the family's financial difficulties, my son studied well. From the time he understood things, my elder son had the idea that he had to uplift the entire family somehow. He always said, 'Mother, I will study hard and somehow rescue you and father from all these hardships.' Seeing the immense suffering we both endured, he was very sad. My younger son had a very tender heart. My elder son was also like that; both of them had an incredible love for us.

One day, when I was out tapping rubber for hire, my son came to me and said, 'Mother, I want to study for a law degree. Can you find the money for me?' No matter how difficult it was, I told my son, 'Son, I will somehow find the money for you. Study well and become a great man.'

My mother passed away when I was very young. I was so young that I don't remember much about my mother. Later, my father also passed away. I only studied up to the third grade. That's why I understood the value of education very well. Because of that, I had the determination to educate my elder son somehow, she said. According to Buddika's mother, he received his primary education at Bundala Primary School. Afterwards, he studied up to G.C.E. Ordinary Level at Mayhena Maha Vidyalaya, achieving high marks, and then went to Ananda College, Elpitiya, to study for his Advanced Level. Buddika, who also passed his Advanced Level with high marks, entered the University of Colombo and successfully completed his degree from the Faculty of Law.

Recalling her son Buddika, she also said:

Son Buddika studied law from the time he was at university. He worked very hard at his studies. Later, he was sworn in as a lawyer. We couldn't go to the ceremony where our son was sworn in as a lawyer. I remember it as if it were today, when my son came home wearing a black robe, knelt before us, bowed, and said, 'This is the result of Mother's and Father's hard work and suffering.' He also said that from then on, he wouldn't let Mother and Father suffer. Seeing our son, we forgot the immense suffering we had endured for years. We felt an indescribable joy seeing our son.

My son married a girl he befriended at campus. That girl, Nisansala, was a person with wonderful qualities. They were people of some means. Yet, she was a very gentle girl. My daughter-in-law was like my own daughter. For us, who didn't have a daughter, she became a daughter. Our daughter-in-law always looked after our joys and sorrows.

Every day, as usual, they called us from their home in Athurugiriya. On the morning of the day my son and daughter-in-law were shot and killed, my husband received a phone call. He handed me the phone, saying, 'Here, here, our younger son is calling.' My son told me, 'Mother, I will come home tonight, somehow, to pick you and father up. If for some reason I can't, I will come first thing in the morning, so be ready.' My daughter-in-law also spoke at that time. My daughter-in-law also works in a government office. She is also a graduate.

My son loved village food very much. We cut a good bunch of bananas from the banana tree in the garden to take to our sons' house. We also picked vegetables grown in the garden and put them in a bag. Whenever we go to our sons' house, we always take a bunch of bananas and vegetables like this. Both my son and daughter-in-law love to eat things grown in the village.

After my son started earning money, he unfailingly sent forty thousand rupees every month for our expenses. He told us, 'Don't go tapping rubber or doing manual labor anymore. Mother has suffered enough,' and asked us to stop working. When they came home, my son and daughter-in-law brought all the necessary household items. When we needed medicine, they also covered those expenses separately. They didn't let us lack anything. They took good care of us. About two years ago, they bought us a piece of land, about 15 perches, right next to our current house. We have cultivated some tea on that land. We also got a small income from that.

We initially lived in a wattle-and-daub house. In 2003, a flood came and destroyed our house along with our belongings. My two children and we lost our way. Even the school books of our two sons were destroyed. At that time, it was Chandrika Madam's government. We received one hundred thousand rupees. With that money, we built the house we live in now. The people in the village helped us a lot. Even for our younger son's education, the people in the village helped a lot. We received the love, kindness, and compassion of everyone in the village. When the books were destroyed by the flood, the villagers even provided the necessary books and clothes for our two sons. They did not forget my lawyer son either.

Why, God, did they kill my son, whom I raised with all the hardships I could endure while tapping rubber, and his wife in this manner? she cried. When asked how she and her husband would live now, Mrs. Dayani gave this answer:

For some time, my son used to send us forty thousand rupees. In addition, he would bring and give us the necessary household items when he came. He also covered medical expenses. Now, I will have to go back to tapping rubber. During the times I don't tap rubber, I will have to go for manual labor. That's how fate is, she also said. Immediately after his brother's untimely demise, the younger brother, who was working in Israel, returned to Sri Lanka.

(Srinath Pusanna Jayasuriya - Lankadeepa)