Sri Lanka's anti-terror police on Monday arrested a Tamil woman, along with her 8 year old daughter, who had returned to the country from her current residence in France, to see her ailing parents.

According to the rights group, Watchdog, the woman, Jeyaganesh Pakeerathy, was stopped by officers from the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) at the airport in Colombo as she was due to board her flight back to France where she currently resides.

Ms Jeyaganesh, who is a former LTTE cadre who ended her service in 2000, returned to Sri Lanka on February 3 with her daughter who is a citizen of France.

See full account by Watchdog here. Extract regarding the arrest reproduced below:

"On the 1st of March 2015, at around 2.30pm, when Pakeerathy and her relatives were about to leave to the airport to catch the flight, TID Officers delivered a letter to her asking her to be present at the TID Office in Colombo the following day at 9.00am. When she mentioned that she had a flight early morning of 2nd March, and that she would stay on if they would buy her another ticket, no answer was forthcoming.

Hence she proceeded to the airport with a group of her relatives. At the airport, on 2nd March, the TID prevented her daughter and her from checking in, and from 2.30am in the morning to 8.30 am, she was in kept TID custody at the Airport. Her relatives (which included 2 small children) also stayed behind at the airport. However they were not allowed to see her. At 8.30am on the 2nd of March, both of them were released, and they were asked to go to the 2nd floor of the TID Office in Fort. Paheerathy and her daughter, and all her relatives drove back to the said TID Office. They reached there at around 10.15am.

There Paheerathy and her daughter was taken inside the building, while all her relatives were asked to stay out. At around 3.00pm, she and her daughter were taken by the TID to the Magistrate Court No 5 in Hulftsdorp. Paheerathay’s family contacted a lawyer and asked her to appear. Since the lawyer was not available at Hulftsdorp, the lawyer instructed the family to request the TID to hold on the matter for thirty minutes. The family had informed the TID that a lawyer has been arranged to appear and to wait for a while. However the TID had said, that they do not need a lawyer, and that they will take care of the matter and had taken her inside Court. The relatives stayed outside and hence do not know what transpired in Court. However when Paheerathy came out she informed them that the Court has ordered for her daughter and her to remain in TID custody.

The TID had informed the brother to bring some clothes for his sister. At 5.00 in the evening, a family member, together with the lawyer went inside the TID building. The lawyer requested to see Paheerathy, from an Officer who called himself ‘Bandara’. He refused permission and said that lawyers need to get permission in writing from the Director- TID. Though it was explained to him that it was legally not correct for them to have produced Paheerathy before Courts when the relatives have informed them that a lawyer was available, Bandara had said, that, they can even keep her without producing her to Courts.

When asked about why she was being detained, he said, that firstly she was in the Sea Tigers, and secondly she was trying to regroup the LTTE in France. He said the daughter was also in custody, as the Magistrate had ordered the daughter to stay with her. He also said, that Paheerathy had lied to the TID and had hidden the fact that she was flying early morning on the 3rd of March. He also mentioned that the family was supposed to come to the TID at 9.00am and they only arrived at 10.00am. The lawyer explained the actual position, however he continued to deny access.

The family was allowed to take clothes to Paheerathy. When the relative came out he said that Banadara had informed him, that the actual reason they are keeping Paheerathy is that they wanted to get her husband to come down, to which the relative had said that ‘even if you hang my sister he will not come back’. He had explained about her divorce."