Vankalai is a coastal village in the Mannar district. Following the blowing up of the road bridge at the main entry point into Mannar as well as the Railway Bridge into Mannar, people from Mannar travelled to Colombo by
sea from Thalvuppadu through Katpiddi.
In this situation, the people of Vankalai displaced from their village, unable to bear the harassments of the Sri Lankan military. The military forcefully evicted those who have not displaced on their own. The military then removed all the valuable things from the homes and send to their own homes in the south of the island.
It was in this situation that the Principal of the Vankalai Mahavidhyalayam school, Sebamalai, a teacher from Vankalai, Justin Lambert, and a few others went to Colombo through Katpiddy to purchase some items for their homes. They were returning from Colombo on 16.02.1991. They arrived at Thalvuppadu and spend the night there. Next day at 10.00 am they started their trip to Kaththankulam through Vankalai on bicycles.
When they arrived at the Vankalai junction, Sebamalai, Lambert, another teacher and a boy, were stopped. Their hands were tied with rope and they were blind folded. People who arrived at the junction after them saw this and went and complained to the Bishop of Mannar. Since the travellers did not arrive home even the next day, the Bishop and the relatives of the travellers went to the Thalladi military camp, obtained their permission, and arrived at the Vankalai camp to look for them. The military stopped the Bishop and the relatives from entering Vankalai. Yet, two of the relatives went to the nearby home of a teacher. Since the doors were open they went inside and found blood. They went behind the house and saw the bodies of five people in the well cut into pieces. Yet, given the situation they could not recover the bodies.
When in 1993 the people of Vankalai resettled in their homes, they found that the well in the teacher’s house has been filled up. The skeletons of the five bodies were lying in front of the well. The skeletons of the five people were handed to the Mannar hospital by the police. It was sent to Colombo for further investigation. To date no further inquiries were held on the incident.
Available names of victims (name, occupation, age)
1. Appukkuddy Kanthaiya, Farmer, 51
2. Anthoni Kolinlemport, Teacher, 36
3. Sebamalai Anthoni, Farmer, 30
4. Seemanthatkurus Sooyaiyappu, Sub Principal, 43
5. Anthonippillai Sebamalai, Principal, 49