The seven TRO staff were travelling from Mattakalappu to the TRO Headquarters in Kilinochchi for training on 29 and 30 January, 2006 when they were forced to stopped, in full view of a Sri Lanka Army checkpoint at Welikande on the Mattakalappu – Polonnaruwa border, by a ‘white van’ without license plates. The TRO van travelling on the 29th contained five persons and the van on the 30th had 15. The other 13 staff members were released. The seven have never been heard from again and media reports state that they were raped, tortured, and executed.

They were:

Mr. KASINATHAR GANESHALINGAM (53 years old)

Mr. THANGARASA KATHIRKAMAR (43 years old)

Ms THANUSHKODI PREMINI (25 years old)

Mr. ARULTHAVARASA SATHEESKARAN (23 years old)

Mr. SHANMUGANATHAN SUJENDRAN (24 years old)

Mr. THAMIRAJA VASANTHARAJAN (24 years old)

Mr. KAILASAPILLAI RAVINTHIRAN (26 years old)

All of the TRO staff were humanitarian workers: Mr. Ganeshalingam was a member of the TRO Board of Directors, Coordinator of Pre School Education Development Centre (PSEDC) and was married with two young children; Ms. Premini was the Chief Accountant of the TRO Batticaloa Office and a student at Eastern University; Mr. Thangarasa, the driver of the van on the 29th, was the father of 5; the other four young men were accountants or trainee accountants at TRO Children’s Homes (orphanages) who were going to Kilinochchi for in-service training.

😨 The fate of Premini was terrible….

The dusky woman with attractive features and a slight squint was taken to another camp and raped first by Paramilitary cadre (Sinthujan) himself. Thereafter it was a horrible gang rape with TMVP cadres taking turns to sexually assault her. Fourteen cadres raped the poor girl… Premini was heard to shout and cry at the start. Later she merely sobbed and whimpered. Premini was taken out before dawn by TMVP cadres to the jungles. She walked like a ‘nadaipinam’ (walking corpse) without crying or showing signs of emotion, said one ex-TMVP cadre. She was apparently hacked to death and thrown into the bushes.”