Policemen are accused of killing her after gang rape, by exploding a grenade inserted into her vagina. The brutal manner of the murder has shocked residents and human rights workers say rape is increasingly used to terrorise the population. Colombo NGO Women and Media Collective says at least seven rapes by security forces have been reported in the east since 31 December. TULF leader M Sivasithamparam says the police Special Task Force (STF) abducted four women from Sammanthurai and murdered one of them in late May. Fear has been expressed over Army search operations in the nights. People say some security force personnel wear masks during night searches to avoid identification.
Following the death of two policemen in a grenade attack on 9 May at Kalmadhu, north of Batticaloa, four civilians were killed in a clash between the LTTE and the Army. Three days later T Sivaparamarajah who went fishing in Pulukunavai, south of Batticaloa, was found dead with gun shot wounds. Shelling from Kumburumoolai Army camp on 14 May killed M Valliammai, 60, and injured four others.
The Army launched an unprovoked attack on people on the main Valaichenai-Batticaloa road at Kiran on 18 May. A man was seriously injured. After Tamil group TELO member and Eravur local councillor Subramaniam Thurairajah was shot dead by LTTE gunmen on 23 May, the Army shelled villages killing three civilians and injuring 12 others.
Timber trader Sinnathamby Anantharajah was shot dead at night on 21 May at Karuvakerni. In the past LTTE’s pistol group has shot dead a number of people belonging to other militant groups and civilians regarded as traitors. Murders have also been attributed to former members of PLOTE and EPRLF involved with the Sri Lankan intelligence services.
Batticaloa political leader S Geethan told a team of Colombo journalists in late May at Pattipalai that LTTE administration was now well established and after the introduction of the Tiger police force, the crime rate has fallen. The Tigers are accused of stealing 39 fishing boats in Valaichenai and Kalkudah in mid-May and demanding ransom.
In Trincomalee District, two women said to have possessed explosives were arrested at Pallikudyiruppu near Muthur on 20 May. The LTTE blasted two electricity towers on 25 May plunging the town into darkness.
A Greek ship named Athena carrying 50,000 tonnes of wheat flour from Argentina was damaged by a bomb on 29 May, six miles off Trincomalee harbour. The government has accused the Tigers for the attack.