WORLDWATCH MONITOR | May 9, 2019
Sri Lankan Arasaratnam Verl is deep in mourning.
His son Jackson (13) and sister Verlini (36) were killed instantly when a bomb exploded in the evangelical Zion Church in the eastern city of Batticaloa on Easter Sunday morning, 21 April.
Verlini’s husband Ranjith (39), an engineer and Blackbelt in karate, died a week later of kidney failure: he also had 3rd degree burns.
On her sixth
birthday, Ranjith and Verlini’s orphan Eliza (6) was due to be
transferred from Batticaloa ICU to a hospital in Colombo the next day:
her womb had to be removed due to shrapnel injury. She was also blinded
in one eye, the doctors were trying to save the other.
Also orphaned was her 8 year old brother Rufus Isaac.
“My son Jackson and my sister died on the spot,” said Verl. “Jackson was captain of his basketball team. He used to compete in many places like Jaffna, Colombo. He’s the best in everything. He’s my only son.
“Jesus died on Good Friday, and on Easter Sunday, He was raised back to life. My son, sister, and brother-in-law died, but they were raised to new life with Jesus on that day.”