Community mourns victims of ‘unthinkable’ Barrhaven tragedy | Only Sports And Health

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Members of the community and politicians came together on Sunday for a multi-faith funeral service mourning the deaths of the six individuals who lost their lives last week in the Barrhaven killings.

Bhante Suneetha, a friend and resident monk at the Hilda Jayewardenaramaya Buddhist Monastery, said after the afternoon service that the community was feeling a sense of “heaviness and grief” following the tragic event.

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“It takes time to heal,” said Suneetha, who led the Buddhist religious portion of the funeral service.

Suneetha said the Wickramasinghe family came to the Buddhist temple in Ottawa and that they were “kind people.”

“When they come to temple, small kids are also playing around,” Suneetha said, adding that the seven-year-old boy who was killed attended religious school and was learning meditation.

The victims died on March 6 in what police said was the worst mass killing in Ottawa’s recent history.

Darshani Dilanthika Ekanayake, 35, and her four children — son Inuka, 7, and daughters Ashwini, 4, Ranaya, 3 and Kelly, two months — were killed, along with Gamini Amarakoon, a 40-year-old acquaintance of the family who was also living in the home.

The Barrhaven family, who moved into the Berrigan Drive home last July, is survived by husband and father Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, who was seriously injured in the attack.

Amarakoon left behind a wife, Dishani, and two children, Asheri and Kaylee, who live in Sri Lanka.

Sunday’s event, held at the Infinity Convention Centre, followed a memorial mass at the St. Monica Parish in Nepean on Saturday.

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Suneetha said that while he leads similar events often, this service was “unique.”

“Keeping that heaviness in us and leading the session is also difficult, but with the understanding that everything is temporary,” Suneetha said.

He said the community will continue to support Wickramasinghe as he grieves.

“He’s not alone, he’s not alone in our community,” Suneetha said. “He will get more support to recover. He needs more support, physical and mental support; he will receive it.”

Kumudini Nicholas, a member of the Buddhist Congress Of Canada (BCC), said she felt “immediate shock” when she heard about the “unthinkable and unimaginable” tragedy.

“I got activated so fast to do something about it,” Nicholas said, adding that she wrote the content for the GoFundMe fundraising page set up for the family. “I also became a member of the organizing committee and I contributed.”

Nicholas said she didn’t know the Wickramasinghe family, but said she has sat beside them at temple.

“I met the wife and three of the children on the first of January, we had a thing in the temple and they sat next to me, I never had the chance of talking to them, though,” Nicholas said. “I should have spoken to this woman at least.”

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A number of religious leaders, community members and politicians shared messages at the funeral service, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who sent a message of condolence, which was delivered at the service.

“It is with greatest sorrow that I offer my deepest condolences to everyone attending the multi-faith funeral services for members of the Wickramasinghe family as well as for Mr. Gamini Amarakoon’s family,” indicated Trudeau’s message. “Losing a family or cherished community member is always difficult to bear. Nothing can prepare anyone for such a loss.”

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, MPP for Nepean Lisa MacLeod and Gary Anandasangaree, minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations Canada, delivered remarks at the service.

“There are no words to explain, to understand the enormous grief that all of you are facing today,” Anandasangaree said during the service. “As Canadians, we mourn with you.”

In an emotional speech, MacLeod acknowledged that people from “all walks of life” were there to support the families in both Canada and Sri Lanka.

“What happened was unacceptable,” MacLeod said, hugging members of the family after delivering her speech. “We are here in solidarity.

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“As a community leader, you hope, in fact you pray, that you never have to see a crisis occur in your community, but we know it will.”

Outside after the service, Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs said the funeral offered some closure and “a bit of healing,” adding that some of the officers who responded to the call last week were in attendance.

“They’re greatly impacted by that call and, on the business side of what we need to do to make sure that this file, that justice is served in this file, they’ve done an outstanding job, the first responders, the homicide team, our forensics team, I’m very proud of all of them,” Stubbs said. “But here’s the human side of it and, obviously, coming here to the funeral is part of that healing for them and for all of us.

“It impacts them greatly, you see it in their eyes. They’re managing it and we’re going to support them as much as we can.”

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said when speaking to reporters that the event was “incredibly difficult.”

“Seeing the faces of those children in those pictures and seeing the five caskets at the front of the room and thinking of the unimaginable grief and pain and sorrow being felt by these families, it’s very, very hard to watch,” Sutcliffe said. “I know people throughout the community have been feeling grief along with this family, and of course the fellow classmates and the teachers and the principal and the members of the Sri Lankan community, everyone has just been going through such a very difficult time over the last 11 days, so this is one step in the journey.”

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Shiroma Wijesekera, a member of the Sri Lankan community in Ottawa, said she shared her sincere condolences to everybody who was involved in this event and for the families, especially the mother and the two daughters in Sri Lanka putting their loved one to rest in Canada.

“I don’t expect this to happen to anybody, especially the little babies,” Wijesekera said. “It was really hard. Every day I think of them, I see the pictures, all I can see is the little faces.”

Wijesekera said the ceremonies both on Saturday and on Sunday were “really hard,” noting that it was especially difficult to hear the recordings from Amarakoon’s wife and daughter.

“At least now it’s like a lot of weight is gone, thinking like you know, we have all rest them in peace with the celebration prayers and everybody’s community come as one family to support everybody,” Wijesekera said.

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