Ambalavanar Punithavathy, 43, from Uduvil in Manipay area was
shot dead after being raped at 11:00 p.m. Tuesday, 4 July 2006.
Assailants who forced entry into the unmarried woman's home, told
the occupants that they have come to search the house, attacked the
elderly mother before raping the woman, local residents said. The
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp that houses the Intelligence Wing is
located close to the house where the crime took place.
The house is located in Ponniah lane in Uduvil, Valikamam in
Jaffna district. The Uduvil SLA camp has been accused of several
previous violations of human rights and harassment of Jaffna
residents. Local residents said that after dark only the SLA
soldiers patrol the streets surrounding the camp and the area where
the murder site is located. No civilians venture out in the area,
the residents added.
Tension and fear prevail in the area, civil society sources
said. The mother has been admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital with
serious assault injuries.
Mallakam District Court judge, Sarojini Ilankovan, inspected the
site of the crime and directed the police to transfer the body to
the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for postmortem examinations.
