In a petition to the Mt Lavinia courts, south of Colombo, 21 year-old Kandiah Sivaranjini, who had come to the capital for medical treatment, says she was arrested by police in a lodge in Bambalapitiya suburb. She alleges that she was raped by police officers at the Bambalapitiya police station. She was accused of links with the LTTE. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was hung by her legs and repeatedly beaten with plastic pipes. She was forced to sign blank sheets of paper and a confession under torture. The confession was in a language that she did not understand.
Reports say that two soldiers were involved in the rape of Thambipillai Thanalakshumi, 42, at Kodikamam, four miles north-east of Jaffna’s Chavakachcheri town, on 7 July. The soldiers are also accused of beating up her 82 year-old mother, Thambipillai Ponnammah, who attempted to rescue her daughter. The Army initially denied involvement, but in mid-July, two soldiers were taken into custody.