What Happened
Siththandy village is situated 8 Kms north of the Batticaloa town. The village has an ancient and famous Hindu temple.
On 20.07.1990, Sri Lankan military rounded up the village and took all the people into this temple. Eight of the people were taken blindfolded with their hands tied to the villager next to him. There they were attacked and killed.
In the same month, the military took 57 young men after rounding up the village. The young men were taken to adjacent villages where they were shot and killed and put in mass graves and burnt.
In total 137 people were killed over these two days. The arrests and killing continued for several months after on a daily basis.
Nallaiah Kamalanathan: "We thought that if everyone stood in one place the Army would not kill us. So all the villagers ran for safety into the temple. The SLA surrounded the temple. They came along with Sinhala mobs. Everyone was asked to stand in line and they picked out the young boys. On the 20th, 80 people were taken away. On the 27th, 57 people were taken away.
Only a week later, we found out that they had killed everyone. The 137 people were taken by bus to a Sinhalese village. There they were asked to stand in a line. The Army announced to the Sinhala people that they had caught LTTE members. Then they were shot dead. Their bodies were never returned to us. Till this day, their mothers still cry not knowing what had happened to their children."
Perpetrators
Sri Lankan Army
Sources & References
- NESOHR - Lest We Forget Volume I