How Sri Lankan woman was gunned down in Kano

                                      • The husband, son and other family members at the funeral service

The tragic end of the late Mrs. Viny Elvina Gnanaharan, 36, is a sad tale that brings afresh a flood of tears each time it is mentioned among the residents of Kano State. She was one woman that lived a life full of joy and smiles, according to the accounts of everybody in town.

Her funeral procession to the Christian Cemetery, along Airport Road, Kano on Sunday, March 25, was unforgettable. There were hordes of sympathizers and mourners from all walks of life, made up of Sri Lankans, Indians, the Lebanese community in Kano and Nigerians. For many mourners that stood by her graveside, the death of the late Mrs. Viny Elvina Gnanaharan was unbelievable. It was hard to accept especially as her remains, dressed in a white, flowery gown, was so aglow inside her casket.

Her final journey on earth began from the morgue of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano. Thereafter, there was a stop over at Saint George’s Anglican Church, Bompai, for the funeral service. At the church, the Vicar, Venerable Luka S. Iliya of St. George’s Anglican Church, Bompai, Kano, admonished all to live a life of holiness, pointing out that man has a short time on earth. “We only know how we came into this world. But one thing is certain: we are going to die. But how we will die and where we will die, nobody knows and nobody can say,” he added.

The late Mrs. Viny Gnanaharan, a Sri Lankan mother, never knew how she was going to die and never guessed it would be so cruel. Twelve years ago, she came to Kano State in North West Nigeria and found a home here. It was said that she loved Kano so passionately that she would do anything for the state. But as fate would have it, she was shot in Kano and by March 22, she was dead. Viny, as she was fondly called, was one of the many less fortunate persons who were shot by the angry bullets of members of the Boko Haram sect on that fateful day.

The victim was with her driver and her son, Elvin, who sat in the back of the car. They were all driving home that evening along Dantata Road, coming from Independence Road, when the bullet found her head and sank into her brain.
Recounting her fate, the deceased’s husband, Mr. Edwin told Daily Sun: “She was on her way, coming back home. She was sitting in the front with her driver and my son was sitting in the back. As they were coming, the people were shooting sporadically and one of the bullets fell on her, but the driver was not injured.”

“It was the driver who took her to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, where I went and met her. At the Aminu Kano Hospital, they gave her all the necessary treatment for some time, before we flew her out to South Africa,” he added. But Mrs. Viny, who worked with Alliance Travels and Tours in the state, did not die thereafter. She held on, albeit unconsciously. For several days, she remained in a coma, battling between life and death in the land of the unknown just as her relatives prayed breathlessly for her to make it.

In between these times, the battle to save her life took her from the Intensive Care Unit of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano to Mid Park Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa and back again to Kano, with several doctors, including a medical professor, battling to save her life. But she was not lucky. The deceased’s husband captured the trying moments, saying that they held onto a thread of hope even when the hospital in South Africa felt that the matter was near hopeless. He told Daily Sun: “At the hospital in South Africa, they said that since it was a head injury and it was severe, they could not do anything. But we kept on for some time, having nothing but hope.”

Two weeks after the burial of Mrs. Viny, her husband, Edwin Gnanaharan is still living in shock. He looked pale as he walked down the veranda of their residence situated along Nassarawa GRA in the state capital. His emotional loss was self-evident as he struggled to put himself together. Edwin, an engineer, came to Kano some 34 years ago. Years later, Viny, his wife, joined him in Kano and together they had their son, Elvin Geshuran Gnanaharan, the young, once vibrant boy whose temple of joy and happiness was ripped apart by that singular gunshot. He was himself lucky to have escaped with only bruises.

Edwin confirmed that the family was still shocked. But interestingly, he added that they had forgiven those who were responsible for the killing of his wife. His words: “We are truly lonely, but by the grace of God we are managing to pull through. To those who are responsible for the killing, I tell you that we have forgiven them. They are forgiven. Because we have to forgive - that is the only way that we can be forgiven also.” He also said that he wasn’t angry with the state and the country over the tragedy. Rather he saw the tragedy as a misfortune that could have happened to any person in any other place.

“Well, things like this happen all over the world. We have to just take it. Whatever that God gives, when He takes, He gives us something also. In this case, He gives us the strength to bear the pains. There is no place in the world that you will not have problems. But when God takes, He gives us the strength,” he stated calmly.

He added that the family would be grateful if it could get some support from the state government in line with its policy to support the victims of Boko Haram attacks. According to him, “We have gone through so much trauma and pains. We have gone through so much expenses and hospital bills in South Africa where she was referred to by hospital authorities here and I will be happy if the state and the Federal Government could support us financially.

“They have already promised to help the victims and we are also hoping that the same donation will be extended to us so that we can use it to support the family. It can be useful to my son’s future education,” the bereaved appealed to the state governor, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.