Krishanti Kumaraswamy

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Krishanti Kumaraswamy

Krishanti Kumaraswamy
Born 1978
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Died August 7, 1996
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Occupation Student
Parents Rassammah and Kumarswamy

Sri Lankan Conflict
Background
Sri Lanka • History of Sri Lanka
Origins of the Civil War
Origins of the Civil War
Black July • Riots and pogroms
Human rights • Allegations of state terror
Tamil militant groups
LTTE
LTTE • Attacks • Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
Current major figures
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Karuna Amman
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sarath Fonseka
Indian Involvement
Operation Poomalai
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Rajiv Gandhi • RAW
See also
Military of Sri Lanka
TMVP • EPDP
Notable assassinations • Child soldiers
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Krishanti Kumaraswamy, also spelled Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, was a minority Tamil girl in Sri Lanka who was raped and murdered in 7 August 1996 by 6 Sri Lankan Army soldiers, and who was a cause celebre of the Sri Lanka civil war because of this.

Contents

[edit] Incident

On August 7, 1996 Krishanthy Kumaraswamy went missing on her way home after sitting her GCE Advanced Level examination which equivalent to grade 12 in many countries at Chundikuli Girls High School. She was last seen alive at 11.30 am at Kaithady Army checkpoint in Jaffna.

Her mother Rassammah, brother Pranavan (Age 16) and family friend Mr. Kirupakaran (Age 35) who became concerned and went in search of Krishanthy. They were also murdered. [1]

According to pro-rebel Tamilnet Forty five days later, the bodies of the four were later found in shallow graves within the army base. A three quarter width rope was found tied round the neck of mother Rassammah’s corpse. Mr Kirupakaran too appeared to have been strangled in the same manner since the rope was wound tightly round his body. The bodies of Krishanthy and her brother Pranavan were cut in several pieces and haphazardly wrapped in black colored sheets. [2]

Later investigations revealed that she was abducted by five soldiers and another six gang raped and killed her at the checkpoint.[3]

[edit] Government investigation

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations like Women for Peace[4] launched a sustained campaign to pressure the Sri Lankan government to arrest and prosecute the soldiers. Six soldiers who were directly involved in the raping were sentenced to death by the court of the government of Sri Lanka.[5]

In the court case about her rape and murder one of the accused informed the state about an alleged mass grave known as Chemmani mass graves that was investigated to contain 15 bodies.[6]

[edit] Related to incident

According to pro-rebel Tamilnet, a local activist who worked to expose her case was killed by unknown gunmen on February 1, 2007[2].

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ SUNILA ABEYSEKERA: PEACE CAMPAIGNER ON A WAR-TORN ISLAND. Collection. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  2. ^ a b Jaffna MPCS President assassinated. Tamilnet. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
  3. ^ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2002-02-23). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. United States Department of State. Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
  4. ^ Sunila Abeysekara: Peace campaign on a war torn Island. UNESCO.org (2007-02-02).
  5. ^ Death sentence for Krishanthi accused. Tamilnet (1998-07-03). Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
  6. ^ "'No instructions on Chemmani' CID", BBC, 4 January 2006. 

[edit] External links