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.
