2ND LEAD

Wife of Hindu priest identify her husband's body

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 June 2006, 11:14 GMT]
The body of the Hindu priest who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Kopay-Kaithadi area on 26th May and found near 200 meters inland from the Kaithady bridge on an isolated earth-bund Tuesday afternoon was identified by the wife of the priest as her husband, sources in Jaffna said.

V. Venkata Krishna Sharma, a father of four from Kopay, was working as a priest in Kaithady Pillaiyar temple, and reported disappeared after he failed to return home on the said day. He was on his way home from the temple after conducting rituals for a special festival at the temple at 8:00 p.m. when he disappeared, Sharma's wife said in her complaint to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Jaffna Human Rights Commission.

The area where the priest disappeared is under full control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and is a barren, non-residential area, relatives of the priest said.

The body, in a state of decay and partly dug out from the earth by wild boar, was officially identified by his wife, sources said.

Workers who went to the area for sand mining discovered the body and informed the local Grama Sevaka who notified Mallakam magistrate. The magistrate visited the site and requested Mrs Sharma to identify the body.

Relatives of the priest said Mr. Sharma had confrontations with the local SLA officials after his daughter was injured by a grenade attack allegedly by the SLA troopers earlier this year.

Mr. Sharma had earlier registered a complaint with the Jaffna Human Rights Commission of death threats to him by SLA, added the relatives.