Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) member, Peter Ilancheliyan, was rushed into surgery at Jaffna Teaching Hospital with a broken jaw after being attacked by a group of four in Mullaitivu, on Sunday. Sri Lankan police are accused of protecting the assailants.
Three officers in plain clothes reportedly witnessed the attack take place, however the assailants have not been arrested. “Is there a solution to this?” asked Ilancheliyan’s wife.
Ilancheliyan was attacked after confronting two women and a man trespassing onto his brothers' property. The women reportedly called for more family and attacked Ilancheliyan with a helmet and batons.
Police sent Ilancheliyan to the Mullaitivu District Hospital, and he was then transferred to Jaffna due to the severity of his injuries.
Tension between Ilancheliyan and the Sri Lankan security forces have remained strained after officers arrested Ilancheliyan in November, after they manhandled both him and his wife as they attempted to hold commemorations on Maaveerar Naal.
Ilancheliyan also defied bans imposed by the Sri Lankan state to commemorate the victims of the Mullivaikkal massacre in May.
