Priyantha Kumara: Burial of a Sri Lankan man killed by a mob in Sialkot
The body of Priyantha Kumara, a Sri Lankan factory manager who was killed in Pakistan, was brought to his residence after his arrival in Sri Lanka where his last rites were performed.
He was buried on Wednesday.
His body was flown to Sri Lanka on December 6 and was kept at Gampah near Colombo.
Priyantha's brother said, "We don't know what to do with what happened. It's a tragedy. "
Before burial in the local cemetery, people attended the last rites under Buddhism.
His brother told,''As human beings, we think twice before killing an animal, even when we kill an animal we don't kill like that''. It is a brutal murder, beating to death, then burning the body and some people are saying that he was alive when it was done.
It is to be noted that Priyantha was killed last Friday in Sialkot city of Punjab province of Pakistan by an angry mob on charges of blasphemy.
Pakistani officials have said that according to the preliminary investigation, the allegations were based on lies and more than 100 people have been arrested so far in this case.
Priyantha was a resident of Ganimula, about 33 km from Colombo, Sri Lanka's largest city, and was survived by his mother, brother, wife and two sons. The family is Buddhist and monks can be seen in the videos performing these rituals.
Videos and photos show her mother crying and sobbing when the body arrives at her residence.''His mother touches the coffin and the whole family becomes immortal''.
Everyone there, including his wife and young sons, folded their hands and prayed.
During these rituals, local political and social leaders also came to his house and condemned the killing.
Priyantha's brother Vasantha Kumara said that he hoped the family would get justice.He told Sri Lankan and Pakistani officials,''If they want us to be satisfied with the situation, we must first brief them on what has happened so far and what is happening.
Another of his brothers, Kamala Sri Santha Kumara, who works in Faisalabad, Pakistan, said his return to Pakistan was unclear. "I don't know if I will be able to go back to work because my family is very scared," he said in an interview with TV today.
Sri Lankan civil society also staged a protest outside the Pakistani embassy in Colombo this week, with people holding banners in their hands.
Some of the banners read, "Pakistan should stop religious extremism," while another read, "Tehreek-e-Lubaik Pakistan (TLP) should be banned."
Some of the banners demanded compensation for Priyantha's family and sons and read, "Priyantha's children should be paid 10 1 million."
It may be recalled that while addressing a function here yesterday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan had said that oppressors on the basis of religion would not be spared.''The whole nation has decided that events like Sialkot will not be repeated''.
He said that the business community in Sialkot had raised US لاکھ 100,000 for Priyantha's family while her family would be paid her salary regularly.