தர்சினி கொலை வழக்கு விசாரணை

[Aravinthan]

தர்சினி கொலை வழக்கு விசாரணை - வடக்கு கிழக்கு மனித உரிமைச்செயலகத்தின் அறிக்கை.

NORTH EAST SECRETARIAT ON HUMAN RIGHTS

NESOHR

NESOHR Case Report issued on 6th January 2006

Rape and murder of Ilaiyathamby Tharshini on 16th December 2005

Informants

The description given below of Tharshini’s disappearance and the discovery of her body in an

abandoned village well is put together from statements made by Tharshini’s relatives and

neighbours to one of NESOHR’s committee members. NESOHR has made the decision to

withhold the identity of the relatives and neighbours from this report because their safety may be

compromised if these are revealed. NESOHR is ready to share this information with any leading

international human rights organization that is willing to join us in taking up this case of the rape

and murder of Tharshini.

Tharshini

Tharshini is a 20 year old, single young woman who lived with

her widowed mother in Pungudutivu (see map). Tharshini is one

of three daughters to her parents. Both of her sisters are married.

One of Tharshini’s sister, who is widowed, lived adjacent to

Tharshini and her mother. The two households functioned more

or less like a single household.

Tharshini sat her GCE (OL) examination in 2001 from

Kamalambikai Mahavidhyalayam in Pungudutivu. She tried to

follow the GCE (AL) course, but gave up. Since then Tharshini

has taught at the Uraitivu preschool. She also coached the sports

teams at her old school. Tharshini and one of her female cousins

earned money by weaving boxes made of Palmarah leaves.

They did this task from the home of her cousin. For this purpose

she visited her cousin’s house regularly and spent nights at her

cousin’s house. At the time of her murder Tharshini was just

finishing a course in sewing. She was turning out to be a good seamstress.

Disappearance

On the day of her murder, Friday 16th December, she left her home as usual around 6.15 pm to go

to her cousin’s house and followed the small dirt footpath shown in the attached map. That night,

both Tharshini’s and her cousin’s household thought Tharshini was at the other house.

Unknowing to both households Tharshini never reached her destination. Next morning

Tharshini’s mother started looking for Tharshini when she did not come back home in the

morning as usual from her cousin’s house.

Discovery of body

More of Tharshini relatives, realizing that she has gone missing, joined in the search. They first

found one of her slippers not very far from her home, along the small dirt foot path. During this

search a few Sri Lankan Navy personnel from the Navy camp nearby came around and asked the

family to show the place where they found the slipper.

At this time everyone heard loud screams. The scream came from some of the boys from the

village who have been checking the unused wells by stirring the well with long sticks. These boys

had screamed when they just managed to bring up the hair of Tharshini above water level

When the Sri Lankan Navy men heard the screams they all ran back to their camp.

By this time it was 6.00 pm Saturday night.

Tharshini’s relatives by now found a hat, worn by the Sri Lankan Navy, placed over the trunk

of a Palmarah tree near the well where her body was found. They also found boot marks near the

well. Later they located a bloodied palm leaf near the well. Slightly further away they found

some dried palm leaves placed between two Palmarah trees in order to create a screen

behind which one could hide on the side of the Navy camp. They also found

Tharshini’s under clothes nearby which they said looked as if it was cut with scissors.

Village people decided to camp near the well for the night to keep guard. Next day, relatives

informed the Judge for the area. Village people refused to allow any of the Sri Lankan armed

forces including the police to come near the well. Village people recovered her body from the

well around 1.00 pm on Sunday in the presence of the Tamil Judge. The judge ordered the body

to be taken to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for postmortem. Her body had been weighed down with

heavy stones on her legs and around her waist using very thick ropes. The body was taken to the

hospital still tied to these stones.

The judge ordered the Gramasevakar for the village, Ramesh, to take all the related items

discovered at the site to be taken away and handed over to the Urkavalthurai courts.

Postmortem

The postmortem, conducted by Dr.Balasubramaniam, Judicial Medical Officer of Jaffna

Teaching Hospital, confirmed that she had been raped and killed. Relatives who saw her body

after the postmortem at the hospital said that she had several bite marks on her face. Her lips were

ripped and they were stitched together by the hospital. She had stab wounds in her chest and near

her hip.

When Tharshini’s body was released to the family from the hospital following postmortem it was

put in a vehicle to be taken to her home on Monday. Sri Lankan armed force personnel were

standing near the vehicle and offered to put sacks of rice, sugar etc in the same vehicle in which

Tharshini’s body was. Tharshini’s mother, furious by this act which she saw as an act to placate

her, screamed at them in anger.

More clues

Once Tharshini funeral was over, the CID arrived. While searching the crime scene for clues they

found the braces she used for her teeth not very far from the place where her slipper was first

found. CID also found, further down the dirt road, towards the Sri Lankan Navy camp and away

from her usual path to her cousin’s house, her other slipper. They also found a blue “key tag”

with a few keys on it. CID has told the villagers that it is the type of key tag used by the Sri

Lankan Navy.

Harassment

Since then, police, CID and other armed forces personnel have visited Tharshini’s relative’s

houses several times to investigate. These officials who came to investigate have asked the family

why the crime could not have been committed by the LTTE. Before Tharshini’s body was

discovered, the investigating Sri Lankan armed forces have told the family that Tharshini may

have joined the LTTE. Villagers also told us that the Sri Lankan security personnel are looking

for the people who stood guard around the well where Tharshini’s body was discovered on the

night of December 17th to take some punitive action against them.

Further Information:

There were 32 households around Tharshini’s home. Most of the households have displaced.

These lands and the wells in them were basically abandoned. These abandoned lands had many

Palmarah trees that provided many hiding spots.

Other young women of the area told NESOHR that Sri Lankan Navy personnel hang around

these abandoned land and if the girls ever look in their direction the Navy personnel would sign

them to come near. They would also whistle and hoot at the young women.

Villagers also said that the well near the temple in the near the Sri Lankan Navy

camp is used by the Navy to bathe. This well has no fence and was visible to public from public

places. Navy men will stand around the well naked to take their baths.

Villagers also said they would like to displace from the area after the rape and murder of

Tharshini. However, the Sri Lankan armed forces, manning the checkpoints, is preventing them

from leaving the area with all their household things. It must be noted these are very poor folks

for whom leaving their household items will make a huge dent in their entire possession.

NESOHR appeal

Tharshini’s mother, in spite of all that has happened is insistent that she must complete the

grieving period at her home according to the culture and tradition. This, the people believe, will

grant peace to the departed soul. Given the gruesome way Tharshini’s life was taken this will

seem far more important to Tharshini’s mother than any effort to lodge complaints or highlight

her case at the international forums. Such is the nature of these simple village folks which act as a

protective cover to those who have committed the crime.

There have been innumerable cases like that of Tharshini during the three decades of Sri Lankan

military occupation of Northeast. Only one case, Krishanthi’s rape and murder in 1997, was

raised at international forum. Tamils often ask why the other cases were never brought at the

international forums.

Observing the simple nature of the village folks in Tharshini’s village, the answer to this seems

obvious. Krishanthi was from a middle class family whose relatives were living in Colombo. Her

family could readily make links with the sophisticated international human rights community.

Where as most of the cases like Tharshini’s of the last three decades that NESOHR has

investigated are from the lowest strata of the society who have no strong links with the

sophisticated international human rights forums.

NESOHR is appealing to the international human rights community, to join with NESOHR, and

show that they do sincerely mean the claim of upholding universal human rights and come to the

aid of this simple poor village family who has lost their caring, hard working daughter. By doing

so they would also prevent many more future Tharshinies.