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TNPF leader pays tribute to father who died in search of abducted son

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, visited the home of a Tamil father, who died after spending more than a decade searching for his forcibly disappeared son.

“His death is a huge loss. In the Tamil struggle, he has been a very important voice that campaigned relentlessly for accountability and justice,” said Ponnambalam.

Sinnachami Nallathambi, passed away on Friday at the age of 71, when he fell from a tree in his home in Koomankulam, Vavuniya.

Nallathambi, who has been protesting on the streets of Vavuniya for years, took part in a protest just days ago, that marked 1,200 days of continuous demonstrations by Tamil families of the disappeared in Vavuniya.

He has been campaigning to find his son who had been abducted by unidentified men in front of the Vavuniya court in 2008.

“His son, Sasi, was released in 2008 from a falsified case. When he was leaving the court he was abducted by individuals in a white van,” stated Ponnambalam.

“Nallathambi witnessed this and this has visual has been embedded in his memory ever since. When we spoke to him we learnt how greatly the incident affected him mentally,” added Ponnambalam.

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