What Happened
Piramanthanaru Village, Kilinochchi is an agricultural area. Many people who settled here came through a scheme set up in the 1950s to provide land for people from poor families. They were innocent people working hard to earn a living.
In the early morning on 2nd October 1985, five helicopters landed on the bund of the tank with around 200 SLA personnel. Some of the army hid in the bushes until 3pm and captured passing villagers. Others went into the village and shot people. They destroyed agricultural products and burnt the houses.
Eyewitness: "At 7am, I was preparing breakfast. Suddenly one helicopter landed by my house. The army surrounded my house, ordered us to come out and kneel. They captured my brother and tied his hands. They took him by the helicopter and gave him a rifle to hold and took video footage and a photo. Afterwards they asked if he was an LTTE man. I denied this. But the army said that they had a photo with a weapon. They threatened us saying they were going to shoot us. They burnt our house down. We shouted and begged them for mercy. They took my brother. I followed crying and asked several times to release him. One army member kicked me with his boots and I fell. Finally we found my brother's body in the forest. They had stabbed and pushed him from the helicopter. All his bones were broken."
Perpetrators
Sri Lankan Army
Sources & References
- NESOHR - Lest We Forget Volume I