Gang rape of schoolgirl sparks shock waves

Air Langhi · Apr 12, 2015

http://www.colombomirror.com/?p=2709

Gang rape of schoolgirl sparks shock waves in Wanni

Special report by Jera

The historic A-9 main supply route that connects the Northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the country, runs vertically through the heart of Sri Lanka. The 321-kilometer long highway between the Central city of Kandy and the city of Jaffna on the Northern tip of the island also reflects the Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil cultures.

With minimum curves and bends the A-9 travels through sporadic sights of jungles, shrubs and residential areas beyond Vavuniya. Along this A-9 highway somewhere between Kanakarayankulam and Mankulam, there lies a small village called Mannakkulam where a young teenager was brutally gang-raped last week.

Saranya (16) was born during the war in the area. Her father died in the war when she was seven. Her mother died subsequently in an accident. Saranya’s grandmother adopted Saranya and her little brothers and started raising them amid appalling conditions.

Until the end of war in May 2009, even when they were trapped in Mullivaikal, Saranya was protected and nurtured by her elderly grandmother. When they were brought to the army-controlled area Saranya, her brothers and her grandmother were left abandoned to face the brunt of poverty. It was then that Saranya was taken over by a children’s orphanage in Vavuniya.

Till the people in the Wanni were rehabilitated and settled in their respective areas, Saranya lived in the orphanage and studied there. She was notably a clever student. As soon as the situation in her village returned to normal, Saranya moved back to her grandmother and pursued studies in a school nearby. Her grandmother toiled hard by doing odd jobs and earned a meagre income to look after Saranya, who turned 16 recently, and her brothers.

Two weeks ago, Saranya had gone to Thirukketheeswaram Hindu temple festival in Mannar with some of her relatives. On her return she had stayed at her relative’s place without returning to her grandmother. She has also taken her books and clothes away in the absence of her grandmother. For some reasons she has not attended school for few days subsequently. She has then gone to school and also participated in school sports meet. That particular night Saranya has fallen sick and fainted. She was taken to the Mankulam hospital. Her relatives had suspected she has been infected with an unidentified decease.

Her grandmother was informed immediately. When the grandmother rushed to the Mankulam hospital she was told that Saranya was having a mental disorder and was being transferred to the Mallavi hospital. The elderly grandmother has rushed to Mallavi hospital where she was told that the girl has been transferred to Kilinochchi base hospital. She went to the Kilinochchi hospital only to be told that no one in the name of Saranya has been admitted there.

The desperate grandmother has then come back to the Mankulam hospital where she was told that Saranya has been treated at number 10 hostel of the Kilinochchi hospital. Becoming increasingly anxious, the panic-hit grandmother rushed to the Kilinochchi hospital hostel number 10 and found an empty bed. A patient occupying the next bed had said that Saranya’s dead body has just been taken to the mortuary.

Saranya has pathetically died last Tuesday even without saying goodbye to her grandmother, who had been a living god.

The doctor who attended Saranya met the wailing grandmother in his office room in the presence of a police constable to make a shocking revelation.

“The injuries she has suffered in her private parts show that the victim has been brutally gang-raped by not less than three men”, the bereaved grandma told the Colombo Mirror, quoting the doctor as saying in Tamil and Sinhala.

When her death was reported in the local media, the police has visited her home and insisted that Saranya died due to mental disorder. They also warned the grandma that they would throw her behind the bars on charges of damaging the character of her granddaughter, if she refused to comply with orders. She was also threatened to tell that Saranya was not gang raped.

One of them has said that even the death certificate had confirmed that she died of mental disorder. Ironically, one of the police personnel who arrived to threaten her was the one who was present when the doctor told the grandma that Saranya died due to gang rape. When the grandma pointed out that the police officer was lying, he had denied it saying that the doctor never said so.

“Will I defame my own grandchild in the media,” she asked.

Who will have answers for such questions in a country where justice is fast heading towards the tomb!
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This is a depressing story. Being poor is just terrible. Unlike the India Rape cases no one seems to care since it is just some poor orphan.

rocketsjudoka · Apr 13, 2015

Very sad story. I don't know how much this is tied to the legacy of the Sri Lanka civil war but since the victim lived in a Hindu village in the north of Sri Lanka I'm guessing that there still was a lot of legacy from it.

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Gang rape of schoolgirl sparks shock waves

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