Hundreds gather for funeral of Tamil man reportedly killed by Sri Lankan soldiers

Hundreds of mourners, including Tamil parliamentarians, community leaders, and grieving relatives, gathered in Muththaiyankaddu, Mullaitivu, on Sunday to pay their final respects to 32-year-old Ethirmanasingham Kapilraj, who his family saw was killed after being attacked by Sri Lankan soldiers last week.

Kapilraj, a father of a seven-month-old baby, was laid to rest under heavy police presence. Lawmakers Sivagnanam Siritharan, Thurairasa Ravikaran, Kadher Masthan, and former parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran, along with local council members and hundreds of residents, attended the funeral to stand in solidarity with his family.

Mourners spoke of a life cut short and a family left shattered, as anger simmers over yet another killing linked to Sri Lanka’s vast military presence in the Tamil homeland.

The killing

As previously reported by the Tamil Guardian, Kapilraj’s body was recovered from Muththaiyankaddu tank on the morning of 9 August, a day after he went missing. Relatives accuse the Sri Lankan army of murdering him and dumping his body in the water.

On the night of 7 August, Kapilraj and four other men were summoned to the 13th Battalion of the Sri Lanka National Guard camp. Locals allege that soldiers have routinely distributed camp materials, including metal scrap, tin sheets, and iron beds, to unemployed youth in nearby Jeevanagar village in exchange for drugs.

When the group arrived, they were chased and beaten with sticks and rods by soldiers. Three managed to flee by jumping into a pond; another was attacked but rescued by residents and hospitalised. Kapilraj, however, disappeared.

The following morning, his lifeless body was pulled from the tank. Mullaitivu District Judge Dharmalingam Pratheepan ordered it to be sent for medical examination.

Arrests and investigation

Three soldiers from the 13 SLNG have been arrested and remanded until 19 August. Among them is a soldier accused of attacking the survivor who was hospitalised. Police from the occupying Oddusuddan, Mankulam, and Puthukudirippu stations are investigating, but residents have voiced scepticism over whether justice will be served.

The arrests came only after public pressure, including a tense confrontation between local residents and police officers outside the army camp. Villagers demanded swift action, accusing the authorities of protecting the perpetrators.

A pattern of violence and impunity

The killing has renewed calls for accountability over the conduct of Sri Lankan security forces in the North-East. Mullaitivu remains one of the most militarised regions in the world, with the army occupying vast tracts of civilian land and maintaining checkpoints, camps, and surveillance operations across the district.

This is not the first time the Sri Lankan military has been implicated in abuses. In recent years, there have been multiple documented incidents of violence, intimidation, and exploitation linked to occupying army units, from assaults on fishermen to land grabs and attacks on peaceful protesters.

Despite repeated complaints, no soldier has ever been convicted for crimes committed against Tamils in the district. For many here, the arrests in Kapilraj’s case will mean little unless they lead to meaningful justice.

As Kapilraj’s body marched through his village, his infant child clutched in the arms of grieving relatives, the community’s anger and fear were palpable. 

For many in Muththaiyankaddu, his death is not an isolated tragedy, but part of a decades-long cycle of military violence, occupation, and impunity in the Tamil homeland.