Woman attempts suicide over family deaths

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A woman whose son was shot dead by the army last month was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Batticaloa after attempting to commit suicide. The woman, identified as T. Puvaneswarie, 48, is a widow.

She said that her son was the sole bread winner for the family and after he was shot dead she was unable to fend for her three daughters and herself on her meagre income as a vegetable seller.

Her first son was also shot dead by the Sri Lankan army in June 1990 she said.

Her son was shot dead on January 19 in Sittandy by the Sri Lankan army in the Morokkottanchenai camp, north of Batticaloa. The SLA claimed that he was a Tiger but it later transpired that he was a cattle trader.

Several suicides and attempted suicides by women in the Batticaloa district due to bread winners of their families being shot dead by army has been reported since 1990.

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