“There is no hostile military presence [of the Tigers] in this area. These are innocent civilians who have been living here since 1995. These are people who were driven from Navanthurai in Jaffna by the atrocities of Sri Lankan forces.They were leading a simple life barely enough to survive with basic livelihood of small scale fishing on a day to day basis in the shallow waters.”  Bishop Rayappu said.

On 2 January 2007, a small fishing community in Padahuththurai in Mannar district was bombed by the Sri Lankan Air Force. 15 Eelamtamils from one extended family, including six children, were killed and another 35 Eelamtamils were injured. Many among the injured were permanently maimed.

The community is made up of about 40 tight knit extended families. Most are refugees displaced from Yaalppanam in 1995 who decided to make this location their home. The Padahuththurai location was ideal for small scale fishing which most of the men in the community did in small manual boats. A further number of families from Yaalppanam joined them in 2006 as the death squads began killing people who supported the LTTE in Yaalppanam.

On 1st January 2007, the New Year was celebrated by the community as most Christians in the island do. 2nd January was a relaxed day and the community awaited the arrival of one of its families who had gone away to celebrate new-year with other relatives 10 Kms away. For two hours, they heard the drone of the usual spy plane which concerned them but that was common.

There was no noise of a bomber which would have send them scurrying for safety. At 9.35 am, the eagerly awaited Kuhan and his family arrived walking from the bus stand a bit further away. The entire clan, especially the children ran to greet, happy New Year. That was the last pleasant memory of the community. Some of the men had taken to the sea early that morning and they saw their homes in fire. They knew immediately what has happened and rushed back. Sahayarasa tells what he did.

“I was at sea, I heard the Kfir. I heard the bomb explosion. I saw our homes on fire. I got off the boat into the water and started to walk towards home. I could not get back immediately because pieces were flying. I met my wife and two children near the shore all of them injured. I ran towards my home. Mother was in her seat her head resting forward on a tree. She was dead. I lifted her head. My baby was on her lap. His head was blown up.

We had to put his body in sack. My sister was dead; her children were dead. All the bodies were bloodied”.

Names of victims (name, age)  Alvin Ananthi 32,  Alvin Vtithusa 04, Anthinipillai Irasakumary  57, Anthoni Sathiyapillai 26, Arulampalam Kuhan 36,  Kuhan Thayalan 02, Kuhan Valestina 30, Pavalam Jameson 12, Sahajarasa Mathusan 01, Uthayakumar 55, Uthayakumar Malini 27, Uthayakumar Tharshika 01, Vijay Vinoyan 04, Vijayan Tharshini 08, Vijayan Vijitha  35

Source : https://tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20787