Personal data
Name
Mary Madeleine (known as Chitra)
Date of birth
1979
Age
27
Place of birth
Vankalai, Mannar
Biographical details
Vankalai is a pre- dominantly fishing cum farming village. Apart from fisheries and farming there is also an educational and professional tradition. There are a number of teachers, government officials, clergymen and professionals from the area.
In 1985 the Catholic priest Fr. Mary Bastian a native of Vankalai himself and about twenty others were killed by the security forces. In later years a prominent school principal from Vankalai and some others were also killed and dumped in a well by security forces. There have also been many other minor incidents. The climate of terror compelled many residents of Vankalai to relocate to other places in the Island, cross over to India or go abroad to Western Countries.
The ceasefire that came into force from Feb 23rd 2002 gave the people a much needed respite from violence. Vankalai began flourishing . Many refugees from India began to return slowly. Life was blossoming again. The victims of this Vankalai massacre on 08.06.2006 were members of one such family that returned from India. Madeleine also called Chitra was from Vankalai and had many close relatives there. Her husband Martin was not a native of Vankalai. He was from Vidathal theevu. He had married Mary Madeleine and settled down in Vankalai. Both Children had been named Anne because the St. Annes Church in Vankalai was the family church. Martin was by profession a carpenter.
Indcident
Date
08.06.2006
Location
Vankalai, Mannar
Description
Chitra-Mary Madeleine was 27 year old, her husband was the 38 year old Sinnaiah Moorthy Martin, her daughter was the 9 year old Anne Lakshika and her son was the 7 year old Anne Dilakshan.
Mary Madeleine was dead on the floor lying in a pool of blood. There were signs of her being sexually assaulted brutally. The bodies of Martin and the children were hanging inside the room. They had been tortured, beaten and hacked to death. Pieces of rope in the house were used to hang the bodies. The intestines of the boy were protruding. The areas around the girl’s vagina were crimson red with blood. It was feared that she too had been violated.
The carpentry tools of Martin like the “uli” or chisel had also been used to prick, cut and torture the victims. In addition heavier and sharper weapons like knives or bayonets too had been used to hack the victims. Some sado – masochistic persons with a bestial nature had been at work in the house. No firearms were used . The cold – blooded barbarity of a brutal nature defied description. Only people crazed with callous hatred or those whose senses had been distorted through narcotics could have inflicted such gruesome cruelty. The bodies were discovered by fellow residents of the area, around 5.30 a.m., Friday morning, police sources said.
Legal situation (investigation/criminal proceedings)
Defence Ministry Spkesperson Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe when questioned by the media denied that the army was responsible. “The security forces have never done such a thing” he said. He said the tigers were responsible. Some newspapers quoting Police sources also said the LTTE was responsible. According to this version the victims were army informants. The LTTE had taken revenge in a brutal way due to this.
The cycle of violence continues in Sri Lanka. The violence committed by the LTTE is dutifully recorded and branded as terrorism by the authorities, media and International Community. The violence perpetrated by the state and its organs both official and unofficial are not condemned in equal manner. Unless the Sinhala people, responsible media sections and the International community realise that unadulterated state terror is being unleashed on innocent Tamil civilians by the Rajapakse regime no end seems to be in sight . Meanwhile the wheels of justice would begin to grind slowly on June 23rd in the case of the Vankalai killings. With all due respect to the Mannar judiciary there seems to be absolutely no chance that justice would be done. From the Bindunuwewa massacre to this Vankalai violence the people responsible have got away and will get away. This is the past, present and future as far as the Tamil civilian victims are concerned.