Murder on the Southern Expressway

by Eric Frank

The Southern Expressway is a spectacular milestone in the growth of the new Sri Lanka. Right now the road cuts the travelling time to Galle by half (if not more) and the stress of staying one step ahead of the sniping tuk-tuks, private and AC buses is simply not there anymore. Phew. For once the driver’s eyes can briefly wander and appreciate the ever-changing landscape of the Western Province. Paddy fields seamlessly change into groves of palms and then into elegant rubber plantations. My wife, remarks as we drive – "This is how I always imagined Sri Lanka ? a lush, green paradise." She’s right of course; it’s incredibly beautiful and human activity integrates perfectly with nature. Temples rise up out of high wooded hills, small villages huddle below swaying palms and as we watch this all pass by we appreciate the total harmony of it all.

As the kilometers flit by we become aware of the number of animal road kills. It’s not unnatural, it occurs throughout the world where motorways dissect the countryside. Most incidents occur at night when nocturnal animals, are drawn to the road by the lights of cars. Insect-eaters know that this where moths and other flying insects will gather and are quick to get in on the action. The feast is invariably fatal and in my home-country (South Africa) bat-eared foxes are the primary victims of the road kills. As we travel my son, who is visiting from Dubai, comments on the amount of Monitor Lizards that lie dead alongside the road. I find this quite strange because, to the best of my knowledge, they’re not nocturnal creatures. And, while they may be ungainly a lot of the time, when required to they can take off at a cracking pace.

Sometime later we see a live Monitor Lizard and a dog begin to cross the road. The lizard is a magnificent fellow and I estimate him to be just short of 2 meters long. We slow down and change lanes to make way for him; the red car behind me does the same. Both the dog and the lizard continue to cross the road unaware of the dark-grey Mitsubishi Pick-up truck which has changed lanes from behind the red car and is now bearing down on them at great speed. The dog is lucky to get away, the lizard isn’t ? and the truck drives over its tail and crushes it. My wife and son shout in horror and I capture a glimpse of the lizard writhing in agony in my rear-view mirror. The truck now accelerates and passes us at breakneck speed. I ask my son to write down his registration number but, by the time he gets pen and paper ready the truck’s too far away. I’m seething and have every intention of catching up with him, but there’s no chance of that ? he’s simply driving too fast and I suspect he wants to put as much distance between himself and us as he can. From there on our drive carries on in almost silence. The incident has left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Its three days later and I still cannot come to terms with what we saw. Do I give the driver of the truck the benefit of the doubt in believing that it was an accident and that there was no malice or intent in his behavior? My wife and son, who both had full view of the incident, are in no doubt that the driver deliberately targeted the lizard and will not be persuaded otherwise. The way in which he drove away from the scene also appears to give credence to what they say. If that’s the case, then what are we to do about people who have so little regard for life or decency? For one I believe we should all make it our business to report such behavior at every opportunity. Write down the registration numbers of vehicles that are seen to commit this kind of atrocity and publish them in the media. Phone a radio station; tell a policeman do all you can to make others aware of these people and what they’ve done. Naming and shaming may just help a little towards making such miscreants think before they kill innocent animals and damage the reputation of decent Sri Lankans.

Suffice it to say that justice will almost certainly be done in the perpetrator’s next life, when he comes back as a Monitor Lizard.

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