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Some former residents returned to the area following the 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and the government. Among them was the Martin family – 38-year-old ] Moorthy Martin, 27-year-old Mary Madeleine (known as Chitra), formerly a teacher with the ] in ], and their nine-year-old daughter Lakshika and seven-year-old son Dilakshan – who returned to Vankalai from southern ].<ref name="ml"/><ref name="mwfhrd"> Some former residents returned to the area following the 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and the government. Among them was the Martin family – ] Moorthy Martin, 27-year-old Mary Madeleine (known as Chitra), formerly a teacher with the ] in ], and their nine-year-old daughter Lakshika and seven-year-old son Dilakshan – who returned to Vankalai from southern ].<ref name="ml"/><ref name="mwfhrd">
{{cite web {{cite web
| url = http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2006/sri_lankan_combatants_rape_wom.html | url = http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2006/sri_lankan_combatants_rape_wom.html

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Vankalai is located in Mannar District (highlighted) in northern Sri Lanka.

The 2006 Mannar massacre or Vankalai massacre was a massacre of a family of four minority Sri Lankan Tamils from the village of Vankalai in Mannar District, Sri Lanka on June 8, 2006. The victims were tortured and both the mother and nine-year-old daughter are alleged to have been raped. The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) accused each other of perpetrating the killings.

Background

The village of Vankalai is located about six miles southeast of the town of Mannar, in Mannar District. The village was the scene of numerous incidents during the Sri Lankan Civil War, including the killing of Catholic priest Mary Bastian in 1985. As a result of the violence and insecurity, many residents were internally displaced or became overseas refugees.

Some former residents returned to the area following the 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and the government. Among them was the Martin family – carpenter Moorthy Martin, 27-year-old Mary Madeleine (known as Chitra), formerly a teacher with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Tamil Nadu, and their nine-year-old daughter Lakshika and seven-year-old son Dilakshan – who returned to Vankalai from southern India.

Incident

Our Lady of St. Anne's Church in Vankalai

The Martin family lived in the Thomaspuri ward of Vankalai, named after Cardinal Thomas Cooray. According to local residents, security forces visited several houses in the area on the morning of June 8, 2006, including three soldiers who visited the Martins' home.

At night, when residents of Thomaspuri and neighbouring Bastipuri gathered at Our Lady of St. Anne's Church for safe refuge, as had become customary following shelling of the area by security forces at the start of June, the four members of the Martin family were absent. When relatives and neighbours checked on the house the following morning, they found the family dead.

The bodies of the victims had been mutilated and bore signs of torture, carrying wounds inflicted by carpenter's tools and "heavier and sharper weapons like knives or bayonets". All four had been hacked and stabbed, those of Moorthy Martin and the two children had been hanged with ropes, and that of Mary Martin showed signs of having been sexually assaulted.

Reactions

In the wake of the massacre, the pro-rebel news site TamilNet reported that residents of Thomaspuri, and nearby Bastipuri and Sukanthapuri, had begun to flee. Victor Avithappar, the Parish Priest of Vankalai, stated:

"People are panicked and afraid, they don't feel safe. They want peace, to live free from fear."

Funeral of the massacre victims

The Requiem Mass for the family, held on June 10 at St. Anne's Church in Vankalai, gathered around five thousand people and was headed by Joseph Rayappu, the Bishop of Mannar.

Altough there are no known witnesses to the killings, many local residents allege that they were carried out by members of the security forces. According to the LTTE, local villagers "speculated that the murder of the family could have been sexually motivated". TamilNet, which published graphic photographs of the four victims that were reprinted by sectors of the Tamil media, explicitly attributed the massacre to soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army.

Sri Lankan government officials denied allegations that the military was involved in the massacre and blamed the LTTE, suggesting that the family was targeted due to its connections with security forces. An LTTE spokesperson denied the accusation.

An inquest into the massacre was initiated by local judicial authorities.

See also

Notes

  • A series of massacres of allegedly more than 90 minority Tamil civilians took place in the vicinity of Mannar in 1984, and these are also sometimes referred to as the "Mannar massacre".

References

  1. ^ Jeyaraj, D.B.S. (2006-06-14). "Another family wiped out in Vankalai". The Morning Leader. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Mannar Women for Human Rights and Democracy (2006-06-18). "Sri Lankan Combatants Rape Women to Terrorize". The South Asian. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "SLA soldiers massacre family of four in Vankalai, Mannar". TamilNet. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Details of few Extra Judicial Killings" (PDF). Home for Human Rights. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  5. ^ Vella, Danielle (2006-06-13). "People terrorized after massacre of Tamil family". AsiaNews.it. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Samarakkody, Sassanka (2006-06-11). "Colombo rejects 'lame excuses'". Gulf Times. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Thousands mourn Vankalai victims". TamilNet. 2006-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. "Family of four hacked to death in Vankalai in Mannar". Peace Secretariat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. Research, Development and Statistics (2006-10-31). "Country of Origin Information Report: Sri Lanka" (DOC)). Home Office. p. 158. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. "Report by the special rapportuer on summary and arbitray executions" (PDF).
  11. Hamlyn, Micheal (1985-02-18). "Mannar massacre". The Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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