Unidentified group assaults Hartley Principal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 September 2002, 13:42 GMT]
The Principal of Point Pedro Hartley College in Point Pedro, Jaffna, was severely assaulted by a group of unidentified persons Saturday night. Mr. Murugupillai Sripathi, 57, is warded at the Manthikai government hospital, two miles south of Pt.Pedro town.

Hartley College was shut down by the Sri Lanka army earlier this month after students tore down the military's positions in the school during a protest against the SLA's presence there.

Saturday night around 10, an unidentified group of persons entered his house which is close to the Sri Lanka army's high security zone in Point Pedro town, and had taken him away with them. The abductors later left him near Karahampan cemetery after severely beating him, sources said. He was admitted to the Manthikai hospital around midnight, medical sources said.

The Point Pedro Police Sunday took a statement from M.Sripathy at the hospital. According police sources, M.Sripathy had told that he was not in a position to identify the persons who abducted and assaulted him.

Hartley College is a preeminent educational institution in the north and, until recently, has been forced to relocate its students to buildings south of the town several times due to the occupation of the school by the Sri Lanka army.