Tamil woman activist campaigning for disappeared threatened with death

A human rights activist leading a continuous campaign seeking information on thousands of disappeared Tamils has been threatened with death by men who assaulted her.

Two men, who came in a motor bicycle on Monday (14) night, threatened Mariyasuresh Easwary of Mulaitivu who has been in the forefront of a vigil that has been going on for over five months.

Her husband has disappeared in 2009 after being  arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy during the final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war.

'Severe consequences'

The men who came in the motorbike stopped her near Theerthakarai cemetery in Mullaithivu, while she was travelling alone in the night. The unidentified men groped and slapped her after demanding her to stay away from the campaign so that others will not carry on with the search for their loved ones.

"If you leave the campaign, the others will follow. If you don't, you will have to face severe consequences," the men threatened.

The relatives of the disappeared in Mullaithivu recently marked 150 days of protest with special prayers at Wattrapaalai Kannagi Amman Kovil in Mullaitivu.

© JDS