At the Chemmani mass grave, ten additional sets of skeletal remains were fully exhumed, while a further twelve skeletal remains were identified, Today.
At the Chemmani mass grave, ten additional sets of skeletal remains were fully exhumed on Sunday, while a further twelve remains were identified — bringing the total number uncovered to 209.
Amongst those excavated so far were two skeletons found intertwined, suggesting they were buried whilst embracing each other.
The third segment of the second phase of excavations, which began last Monday, continued into its seventh day on Sunday. Although the court has granted forty-five days for this phase, today marked the thirty-ninth day of the ongoing work.
With today’s recovery, excavations carried out in successive stages over a total of forty-eight days have so far brought to light 191 fully exhumed sets of skeletal remains. In all, 209 sets have been identified to date.
As Sunday’s work concluded, excavations are scheduled to resume on Monday morning.
The Chemmani site, situated in Jaffna, has long been described by Tamils as one of the largest mass graves on the island. It was first exposed in 1998, after a Sri Lankan soldier on trial for rape and murder admitted that hundreds of bodies of Tamils killed by the military had been secretly buried there.
