Sri Lanka Army arrested a 13-year-old girl, Vipooshika, and her 48-year-old mother

Sri Lanka Army arrested a 13-year-old girl, Vipooshika, and her 48-year-old mother, Jeyakumari Balendren, the only remaining female members of a family that had lost two men in the war and the last one was missing after they personally handed him over to the Sri Lanka Army at the end of war in May 2009. The two traumatized victims were voicing for the release of the only male, whose whereabouts are not revealed by the SL military. This article is written with input from Tamil Net.

The mother, Jeyakumari, went to LLRC and to all the protests and became a leading activist in mobilizing the families of the missing persons in Ki’linochchi district. In the LLRC she saw a booklet where her son appeared in detention. That gave her hope that her son was still alive. The daughter Vipooshika became the symbol of young children searching for their loved ones. The SL military and the police, after arresting them, took the mother and the daughter to Vavuniyaa Court. The mother was sent to the notorious Boosa prison in South to be remanded up to 3 months and the daughter to the so-called ‘Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Centre’ in North through its judiciary. What crime the little girl commit to be placed in the rehabilitation centre? The only ones who need rehabilitation are the Rajapaksa brothers and the military.

Selvarajah Kajendren talking to a neighbour of Jeyakumari at Tharumapuram, Ki'linochchi

The international community should take a serious note on the story of the family, said former Tamil parliamentarian and Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) General Secretary Selvarajah Kajendren, who received a phone call from the mother just before her arrest on 12 March 2014 evening. The TNA should join up with TNPF and other parties and take legal action against the government for illegal detention,

Vipooshika lost her father when she was a child. Elder brother was killed in a battle in the war. The last son was also in the LTTE. After the end of war, the family handed him over to the SL military as the military had announced ‘general amnesty’ to all those who were surrendering and the families were encouraged to hand them over. Vipooshika’s mother Jeyakumar had handed the son over to the SL military trusting the promise given by the military. But, to date, the whereabouts her son is not revealed by the military.

“Every time we organised a protest to highlight the plight of the missing persons and their families, Jeyakumari used to join the protest. She was also a key activist in mobilizing the families of missing persons,” said Selvarajah Kajendren. The mother and the daughter were most vocal in the crowd and they are in the front row in the first tube. In the second tube the parents were also clamouring for the loved ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HldPmB7nM2w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcj75RdKoDw

When the British Channel 4 visited Jaffna together with the visiting British Prime Minister, David Cameron, the family was there in the protest. The organisers of the protest, despite many of them being Catholic priests, were threatened by the SL military, which staged a counter-protest against the Channel 4 on the day of the visit by the British Prime Minister.

On 12 March evening, Selvarajah Kajendren of the TNPF, rushed to Tharumapuram after receiving the SOS phone call from Jeyakumari, who told him that the SL military was trying to arrest her. According to his knowledge, there was only the mother and daughter inside the house when the military came to the spot. Of course, there was no ex-LTTE cadre in the house, as claimed by the army.

“Jeyakumari told me over the phone that there were some military men who came in civil first trying to enter the house. As she was talking to me, she said a lot of troopers had surrounded the house and that they were trying to enter the house. Then the connection was lost.” 

As he lost the contact, Kajendren and a few other activists and journalists rushed to Tharumapuram. Hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers were deployed there and all contacts with the family and the village were cut off. 

The military who went to the house took the mother and the daughter out and left them beside their vehicle. Then they moved into the house again. Jeyakumari in her report to the magistrate said that a few minutes later she heard some gun shots, but there was no casualty and no one was arrested, in spite of the fact the house was surrounded. Yet the army stated that their men suffered injuries, but they did not say who caused those injuries.

The residents said there were only the girl and her mother at the house at the time of the incident. SL military spread rumours that somebody was running and that the SL soldiers were chasing him. But, none of the residents witnessed it and nor was anyone caught. That is how the fiction goes. Many soldiers could not catch that 'somebody' who was running.

They produced a name of a man who could have been arrested, but he was a vehicle driver and was a quiet man according to the residents. He was not even at the village when the SL military rounded it up. The residents of Tharumapuram said that they think it was cooked up story to implicate the mother and her daughter for harbouring terrorist to justify their arrest to silence them. The SL military is determined to silence the Tamil public and frighten them into not participating in any demonstrations organised by others.

The house of Jeyakumari and Vipooshika at Tharumapuram in Ki'linochchi district

Condemning the arrest of Jeyakumari Balendran and her daughter, Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) and All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) organised a protest in Vavuniyaa, which was well attended by political activists, councillors and Catholic priests and nuns, who demanded international attention and immediate release of the victim turned activist Jeyakumari. 

British Prime Minister David Cameron promised international investigations on Sri Lanka. Ms Jeyakumari and her daughter took to streets demanding justice in the hope that the international community would listen to their plight. Now, the IC has a responsibility to save the witnesses, Selvarajah Kajendren told TamilNet. 

Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Health Minister, NPC councillors, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians Sivasakthi Ananthan, Vino Nokarathalingam, Valveddiththu’rai Urban Council member Sathees, representatives of associations for missing persons, catholic priests, nuns and relatives of missing persons took part in the protest.

The Spokesperson of Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) and Colombo Municipal Council member S. Bhaskara also took part in the protest. 

Selvarajah Kajendren and Visvalingam Manivannan from TNPF and Anantharajah of the ACTC organised the protest, which took place in front of the Vavuniyaa bus stand. 

The latest news that has emerged at around 10 pm on 16 March, was the arrest of the prominent Human Rights Activist, Ruki Fernando, and Father Praveen. Both were detained at the Killnochchi police station and questioned. Apparently, they were arrested in conjunction with the arrest of Jeyakumari and her daughter. Early next morning BBC made an announcement on this. It is amazing that when the UNHRC is in progress in Geneva, Sri Lanka dares to thumb its nose against the International Community. Obviously, the Rajapaksas are placing a lot of weight on the Chinese support. Whatever it is the Tamils will have to be united and put pressure on Sri Lanka.