Madhu church massacre

Madhu church, Mannar, is a St. Mary’s Catholic Church and is popular among all ethnic communities in the area. During the 1990s following the SLAFs attacks several people from Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya were displaced to the church’s surroundings, as it was considered a safe refuge. On 20th November 1999, the SLAFs were advancing through the forest towards the church and continually firing their weapons. As a result, people in the villages, such as Palamputti, also displaced to the surroundings of Madhu church. When the SLAFs arrived they forced all the civilians to go to the church. At 9.45 pm the SLAFs started shelling. Two of the shells fell on the banyan tree in front of the church. The third shell fell on the church. 31 people including children died. Nine more people died in the hospital. More than 60 were injured.

Chandrasekumaran Amarasingam was in the Madhu Church when the shelling started. His account of the incident is as follows,

“I had been living in Rathinapuram Palamputti for a long time. On that day, the SLA told us to go to Madu Church and they will look after us there. This message was conveyed to us through UNHCR. So we all went to the Temple. Once there we were told to go in and then go out again a few times. There were so many people at the temple. Finally the SLA made us all go into the Temple and then closed us in.

The SLA came down Pandivirichan Road in armoured vehicles and tanks. On that road there was a vehicle that belonged to a poor man who had brought people from Karadianaru to Madhu Temple. The SLA destroyed the vehicle completely. Once they arrived, they surrounded the Church. They killed and hit a few people. Inside they hit people.

Around 9:45, we were listening to BBC on the radio, the first shell fell on the place where the sisters were sleeping. The other fell in front of the temple on the banyan tree. The next one fell on my temple.

The fourth shell fell on my head. The roof frame fell down and instantly killed about twenty one people all around me and then there was silence. We all saw this shell come from the Divisional Secretariat.

We did not know what to do. Around 1:00 pm, I was taken in an SLA vehicle to the hospital. I regained consciousness after 25 days.

My mother, and elder sister, uncles, cousins all died that day. The GS helped us to find out what happened to everyone. There were people from Vavuniya and some from Murungan who died. The rest were all from this area and were all from our family.

22 November 2006

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