7 mutilated bodies buried in Allaipiddy

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2006, 12:34 GMT]
Seven more mutilated bodies of civilians killed in artillery fire in Allaipiddy 20 days ago, were photographed and burried Monday at the presence of Jaffna District Magistrate, E. T. Vignarajah. Around 40 civilians were reportedly killed in Allaipiddy. So far, 25 deaths have been verified by humanitarian and legal sources. Relatives of 12 more civilian victims have appealed to the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka seeking help to remove the bodies lying inside the houses located in Ward No: 4 of Allaipiddy. Sri Lanka Navy is not allowing any civilians to enter Allaipaiddy. There are more bodies, lying along the coast, according to the latest civilian reports.

The bodies of five men and two women, killed in artillery fire, were recovered along the roads, legal sources said. Nobody had entered the houses in search of bodies.

Relatives of persons believed killed have approached the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and urged help to remove the bodies still lying inside the houses.

Bodies of L.Gnanapiragasam,70, K.Nadarajah, 60, S.Anandam, 51, A. John Robert, 41, J.Mary Manjula, 45, K.Micheal, 55, M.Ramesh, 26, P.Velicia, 20, K.Thevakumar 28, K.Menis, 19, K.Uthayakumar, 34 and P.Thevanayaki, 30 are said to have been lying in their houses since August 12th, HRCSL was told.

Four bodies were brought to Jaffna Hospital on August 13 by the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC).

Fourteen bodies were burried the following day at Allaipiddy by the SLRC.

Meanwhile reports state that several bodies of civilians killed in the artillery fire are seen in the coastal area of Allaipiddy.

Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) is not allowing any civilians to enter Allaipaiddy. Efforts taken by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRCS) and HRCSL to take displaced civilians to Allaipiddy to locate dead bodies proved futile, civil sources said.

An appeal has been made to the relevant authorities for permission to collect the dead bodies of Tamil civilians in Allaipiddy area and conduct burial who were killed in indiscriminate artillery fire on August 12th.

About forty civilians were feared killed in that attack carried out from Sri Lanka army main base in Palaly in Jaffna district.