All five Jaffna victims identified as civilians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 10:48 GMT]
The young woman, who was shot and killed by the SLA soldiers and dressed up with denim trousers last Saturday, was identified as a heart patient, Ms Parameswari Somasundaram, 26, who had come to Jaffna Hospital for treatment from Konavil in Kilinochchi. Two other remaining bodies were also identified as belonging civilians from Kanakarayankulam and Pallai. Two bodies were earlier identified as belonging to a night watcher and a garage worker in Kottady. The Sri Lanka Military spokesman in Colombo had claimed that the five persons were gunmen who were shot by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and that troopers had recovered weapons from the victims.

The bodies were identified by the parents of victims following the publication of photos in the local papers, hospital sources said.

Thirunavukarasu Jeyakanthan, 26, a local businessman from Pallai, Ratnakumar Kunasegar, 19, a carpenter from Kanakarayankulam were identified as the male victims.

Parents of the victims identfied the bodies at the presence of Acting Judge of Jaffna District and Mallakam Magistrate Mrs. Sarojini Ilankovan.

The ICRC has arranged for the transport of the three bodies to LTTE controlled area, sources added.

Earlier, two victims were identified as civilians. Krishnan Vimaleswaran, 39, a night watcher who was in duty at Jaffna Central College was shot inside the school and his body was relocated by the soldiers. The other victim, Palasingham Chandrakumar from Manipay was an employee at a garage in Kottady in Jaffna.