What Happened
Eeddimurnchan village is situated in the Vavuniya district. Most people in the village are farmers.
In the 1970s, upcountry Tamils displaced from their homes due to violence by the Sinhala mobs were settled in Dollar farm, Ken farm and other settlements in Vavuniya. In the 1980s, the Sri Lankan military chased these upcountry Tamils from their homes and settled Sinhala prisoners in their homes and armed them as well.
These Sinhala prisoners tormented the long term residents with thefts of their livestock, farm products and homes. They also started to attack the people.
On 19.03.1986, the Sri Lankan military and the settled Sinhala prisoners came through the jungle in many military vehicles and arrived at Eeddimurinchan village at 4:30 pm. They started shooting people and burning their homes.
On the next day, early in the morning, the military and Sinhala groups rounded up the Nedunkerni village. They started shooting everyone including old people and children. 20 people were killed. Property worth hundreds of thousands of rupees was damaged. The Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter provided cover for the massacre. Fearing the military, relatives buried the bodies in the jungle.
Perpetrators
Sri Lankan Army
Sources & References
- NESOHR - Lest We Forget Volume I