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Name: KN<br />
Gender: Female<br />
Age: 30<br />
Date Detained: April 2009<br />
Date Released: cannot recall<br />
Circumstances of detention: KN lived with her husband and child in Kodikaman, Jaffna, when<br />
fighting between <strong>the</strong> Sri Lankan army and LTTE intensified. KN told <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> that her<br />
husband, a farmer, was conscripted by <strong>the</strong> LTTE in March 2009 to dig trenches and provide o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
support. She said she joined her fleeing neighbors with her young child in April 2009, and reached<br />
Iranaippalai in <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>ast where she “surrendered” to <strong>the</strong> Sri Lankan army.<br />
Account:<br />
We were taken to Omanthai on April 21, 2009. All of us were stripped naked. The soldiers asked all<br />
<strong>the</strong> women and men to bend over and laughed when we did. They groped us and felt our breasts.<br />
On April 22, a bus took us to Arunachalam camp at Chettikulam Vavuniya. I was questioned on<br />
numerous occasions at <strong>the</strong> camp and before being taken to <strong>the</strong> camp. My husband has been<br />
missing since April 2009. The soldiers knew I was without my husband. They asked me in each<br />
inquiry. I shared <strong>the</strong> tent with six o<strong>the</strong>r young women. Each of us was invited for an inquiry. The<br />
officials who conducted <strong>the</strong> inquiry wore military uniforms. The inquiry happened only at nighttime.<br />
The officials who interrogated me took turns to rape me. They took my photographs and<br />
fingerprints. They asked about my husband’s whereabouts and how he supported <strong>the</strong> LTTE. I told<br />
<strong>the</strong>m I didn’t know anything. They slapped me and <strong>the</strong>n said <strong>the</strong>y would fix me. They raped me by<br />
turn. There were four or five people. I went back to my tent after <strong>the</strong>y finished. They would call<br />
different girls from <strong>the</strong> tent and I was called at least six times. They did not ask me to sign a<br />
confession document. 162<br />
KN managed to secure her release from <strong>the</strong> camp after bribing EPDP members and Sri Lankan<br />
security forces. She made her way to Germany with her son in January 2011.<br />
162 <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with KN, November 18, 2011. Medical records were not available in this case.<br />
“WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 114