Personal data
Name
Ambalavanar Punithavathy
Date of birth
1963
Age
43
Place of birth
Uduvil, Manipay
Biographical details
Ambalavanar Punithavathy was 43 years old at the time of her murder and lived in Uduvil, Valikamam Jaffna district. This area is under Tamil administration.
Indcident
Date
04.07.2006
Location
Uduvil, Valikamam in Jaffna
Description
Ambalavanar Punithavathy was shot dead after being raped at 11:00 p.m. Tuesday on 4th of 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 Uduvil SLA is notorious for gross human rights violations.
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 at night 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.
Legal situation (investigation/criminal proceedings)
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. No one was ever held accountable and there were no criminal proceedings in court. The Sri Lankan officers, who commanded it, and the responsible soldiers have not been convicted to this day.