WARNING: STORY CONTAINS UNEDITED PHOTO FROM MASSACRE SITE

SLA soldiers massacre family of four in Vankalai, Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2006, 04:47 GMT]
SLA soldiers armed with bayonets and knives entered the house of a family of four and slaughtered 35-year-old father, 27-year-old mother, 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son Thursday midnight in Vankalai, 12 km southeast of Mannar. Eyewitnesses in the area, Thomaspuri Ward No 10 in Vankalai, have told Mannar Additional Magistrate that they could identify the soldiers involved in the massacre. Villagers alleged the mother was raped before the massacre. Tension prevails in Vankalai. Religious leaders including the Bishop of Mannar, parliamentarians and civil society members in Mannar have rushed to site. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials have visited the massacre site.

The vicitms killed were: Mary Medaline (Chitra), 27, the mother, Moorthy Martin, 35, the father, Ann Nilxon, 7, the son and Ann Luxica, 9, the daughter.

Martin was a carpenter by profession.

Soldiers have also used the carpenter tools to kill the victims. Bootprints and a miltary badge with star were found at the massacre site.

Bodies were discovered by fellow residents of the area, around 5.30 a.m., Friday morning, police sources said.

The family, once displaced as refugees in India, had returned during the Ceasefire and resettled in the village, the residents said.

Mannar Additional Magistrate T.J. Prabakaran visited the massacre site and ordered the Police to carry out investigations into the massacre.

Villagers from Thomaspuri, Sukanthapuri and Bastipuri have started to flee from their villages.