Woman gang raped, mother assaulted

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 July 2001, 05:25 GMT]
A woman allegedly gang raped by Sri Lanka army soldiers in Meesalai on Saturday night was admitted to the Manthikai hospital in Jaffna Sunday. Hospital sources said that the woman has been raped brutally. The women's mother who had attempted to stop the soldiers from molesting her daughter was severely assaulted and has also been admitted to the hospital for treatment, sources said.

Soldiers from a SLA check point near the home of Thambippillai Thanalakshmi, 42, in Meesalai had entered her house around 8 p.m. on Saturday night and had allegedly gang raped her, neighbours said.

Manthikai hospital sources said that Thanalakshmi has been severely raped.

Her mother Thambippillai Ponnamma, 82, whose eyesight is failing, was assaulted and hit with rifles while she attempted to intervene after hearing her daughter scream, according to residents who live close to their home in Meesalai.

They said that the Thanalakshmi and her old mother had been displaced from their home for a long time and had returned only two months ago to resettle.

Neighbours lodged a complaint about the rape with the Police in Kodikamam Sunday. The matter was also brought to the notice of the Chavakachcheri magistrate, Mr. A. Premsankar. A magisterial inquiry w