Mystery surrounds disappearance of 26-yr-old youth in S. Korea

Relatives of a 26-year-old youth who went to Korea for employment claim that he they had lost touch with him since April 16 and requested the help of the authorities to find him.

The youth, Shashen Tharaka, a resident of Baddegama, had gone to Korea for employment about 3 years ago after passing the competitive examination with flying colours. He had spoken to his mother daily since his arrival in Korea but after the 16th of April his communications had stopped abruptly.

“There is nobody to worry about me when I die. Nobody to weep for me.” This was supposed to have been an entry he had made on his facebook page. His uncle, Jayantha Illepperuma however said that he doubted that Shashen would have made this entry and suspects that somebody has entered his facebook account and distorted it.

His uncle said Shashen’s shoes and purse had been found in a shrub jungle in a town called Thegu in South Korea. He said that there was no reason for Shashen to commit

Sashen is my younger sister’s son. He went to Korea for employment about 3 years ago. His mother is also employed in Cyprus. He had taken part in a musical show near a temple in Thegu town during New Year

suicide and said he suspects that he was being held captive by someone.

He said, “Sashen is my younger sister’s son. He went to Korea for employment about 3 years ago. His mother is also employed in Cyprus. He had taken part in a musical show near a temple in Thegu town during New Year. Thereafter he has not spoken to his mother. My sister has asked us to find her son. We complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Employment Bureau. Although various information has been reaching us on what has taken place in Korea, we have still do not have a clear picture of what took place over there. We do not know whether the reports are true or not.”