A Fundamental Rights application has been filed at the Supreme Court by the parents of the 20-day –old infant who was cremated after dying due to the coronavirus.
According to the Daily FT, filing the petition, the parents have cited suspicion over the death of the child and the conduct of the hospital to hurriedly cremate the child.
The Petitioners have further requested a full bench to consider the case as the matter is of public importance and that certain reliefs sought had been refused leave by majority decision.
In the petition, the parents have detailing their ordeal and said authorities at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital had cremated the body of the infant in an undue hurry.
They highlighted that a request from hospital authorities to permit a second PCR test on the child after his death, was denied.
Further requests by the to be with the child in order to breastfeed him and provide other care, were also declined by authorities and the parents had been instructed to return home.
The petitioners charge that they were informed that the child had died an hour earlier, after they had contacted the hospital to inquire on the infant on 08 December, pointing out that the hospital had failed to contact in this regard.
Stating that thereafter there had been an undue hurry to cremate the body of the infant, the parents said neither of them nor their relatives had been permitted to see the body and instead the authorities had demanded a consent form be signed.
They charged that the following day the child had been cremated without their consent or knowledge at the Borella Cemetery.
The parents of the infant further cited an email sent by Professor Shehan Williams, Consultant Psychiatrist to the Sri Lanka Medical Association Intercollegiate Committee which was circulated on social media, in which he claimed the recent incident at the LRH further highlights the communication and ethics of the professionals in the way it has been handled.
The petitioners also cited world-renowned Professor Malik Peiris who has categorically refuted any scientific basis for the virus to be transmitted from bodies which are buried.
Meanwhile, Prof. Meththika Vithanage, member of the Evaluation Committee on the Management of Covid-19 infected bodies said as a Court ruling on the disposal of the bodies of Covid victims has already been given, there should be no further debate on the matter.
She further said that in the event a decision is reached on whether the bodies should be buried or cremated has already been made, everyone should adhere to the law. (NewsWire)