Homeless Tamil dies of alleged starvation under curfew and SL militarised conditions in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2020, 21:04 GMT]
A homeless older Tamil man, who was depending on alms in the streets of Jaffna city has passed away, possibly due to starvation on Saturday. The death comes as the occupying SL State has been deploying its military to control every aspect of the civic engagement in the occupied North-East in an unproportionate scale as not witnessed in the South, health workers complained. They didn’t wish to be named due to security reasons. The Tamil-speaking community has been severely restricted from self-mobilising to help the underprivileged. In the meantime, PMS Charles, a close confidante of Rajapaksa establishment, appointed as the SL Governor to North by SL President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has muzzled the mouth of healthcare workers and public officials as well as punishing her media secretary, journalists in Jaffna said.

65-year-old Alfred Pedrupillai from Neluk-ku’lam, Vavuniyaa was found dead inside the vicinity of Muniyappar koayil in Jaffna on Saturday. He was a mendicant, dependent on moving out in the street for food. A security guard discovered the dead man during a routine check.

The public servants, who are under pressure from the SL Governor and the upper echelons of the religious society were quick to refute the cause of his demise. They claimed that the man had died of old age.

However, informed health workers told journalists in Jaffna that the death of Pedrupillai was a result of starvation.

It is not known whether a proper medical assessment would be carried out to establish the exact cause of the death, they said.

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