Inside Story of Rape Case in Akkarapattu

"The news and revelation of these rapes has shocked the local Tamil community of Akkaraipattu, Amparai and parents fear letting their children out in the evenings and at night. We have information that 27 Tamil men were arrested by the STF and police recently on charges of committing rape, which these innocent men strenuously denied. This was done by the STF and police to simply point the finger on the Tamil community and avoid any high-profile scandal before the local elections."

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by Special Correspondent in Batticaloa

(March 14, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka Guardian) News reports are flooding in from Akkaraipattu, Amparai that some local Tamil women and girls under the age of 16 years have been gang raped by a group of STF Commando’s based at their camp in Akkaraipattu, according to realible sourses in the area told the Sri Lanka Guardian.
“It is also alleged that a few local police officers have also been involved in the gang rape of local women and under-aged girls,” he added.

The news and revelation of these rapes has shocked the local Tamil community of Akkaraipattu, Amparai and parents fear letting their children out in the evenings and at night. We have information that 27 Tamil men were arrested by the STF and police recently on charges of committing rape, which these innocent men strenuously denied. This was done by the STF and police to simply point the finger on the Tamil community and avoid any high-profile scandal before the local elections.

Meanwhile some political party sources report the unlawful arrests of these 27 local men by the STF and police. Politcal party sources in the area then unhesitatingly sent their members to the police station and STF camp to question the reasons for these unlawful arrests and had the 27 arrested Tamil men released as they were victims of unlawful arrest and detention.

The Tamil community fear talking about rape as it is a general taboo, and many rapes that do occur are unreported however the parents of these victims have been courageous enough to report these atrocious and horrific incidences to their political representatives in the area, in this case the Human Rights groups in the hope that action will be taken against the Security Task Force (STF) and police personnel who were involved in these horrific acts.

The local communities that placed their trust in the STF and the police and felt that they were present to protect and uphold the law when the East was liberated feel betrayed by them. This feeling of mistrust is now felt by the entire community of Akkaraipattu. These inhumane acts by the certain members of the STF/SL Army and Police are reminiscent of the horrific Akkaraipattu massacre which occurred on 19 February 1986 when up to 80 minority Sri Lankan Tamil farm workers were allegedly killed by the Sri Lankan Army personnel and their bodies burned in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.

Although the alleged massacre happened on 19 February 1986, confirmation of the incident was made few days later after community leaders had visited the remote spot near the town of Akkaraipattu, where the farm workers were shot. According to community leaders, the farm workers were threshing the paddy fields when allegedly troops appeared from the jungle firing into the air. The women were freed, but the soldiers rounded up the men, tied their hands and made them sit on the road while the soldiers reportedly moved into a nearby village and looted the shops. The farm workers were taken back to the paddy fields and shot. Several empty cases of ammunition have been found in the field. The bodies were piled on top of the dry rice harvest and burned.

- Sri Lanka Guardian