Mannar women complain of body searches by SLA male soldiers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 November 2006, 09:36 GMT]
In a complaint made to the Mannar Consortium of Humanitarian Organisations (CHO), Tamil women in Mannar said that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) male soldiers routinely conduct body searches on their way to Chetiyar Kaddai at Adampan, sources said. Body search by opposite sex amounts to rights violation and "sexual assault," said human rights officials in Mannar.

Chetiyar Kaddai at Adampan is a resettlement village in the Mannar district and the male SLA troopers who conduct frequent and sudden checks in this village, body search the women causing great resentment to the villagers, affected residents said.

The people of this village have requested the Mannar CHO to help appoint female police cadres at the SLA check point and to bring the inconvenience caused to their women, to the notice of the Mannar Government Agent so that the concerned SLA officials may be informed of the harassment by SLA troopers.