Victims of Othyamalai massacre Remembered at Othyamalai Pillaiyar Temple
The day was 2.12.1984. The place was Othiyamalai at the southern border of Vavuniya District.The time was around 4’O clock. Some people entered the village in military uniform. “We are LTTE. Come to the community centre for a meeting” they told the male villagers. The villagers did not know that those people were from Kajabapura.
The dresses were removed off the villager and they were bound with their own clothes in pairs. Most of them were hacked mercilessly to death on the spot. Some were taken to the border of the village and hacked to death. Even some persons who crossed the path of the marauders were also killed. 27 bodies were recovered in the village and 05 were taken away by the killers.They are also presumed to be killed.
All together 32 innocent Tamil people lost their life on that day. This massacre was aimed at driving the villagers away and encroaching their lands. Latest information says that an attempt is in progress to grab 3,000 acre land along the southern border of Vavuniya District. Already villages like Sempikulam Karuvepankulam , Kidaviluthi and Thanalkal had been colonized .
The remains of the victims were cremated at the same spot where they had fallen .The relatives, built a memorial at the spot when they resettled after Jayasikuru. But the army had destroyed that memorial.
However, the relatives were remembering their dead annually and intending to build a memorial again.
This year also, the 31st commemorative ceremony was sentimentally held at the Othyamalai Pillaiyar Temple, with lighting of memorial lamps and worship for their souls rest in peace, attended by large number of People including Sivasakthy Ananthan ,MP, NPC members, G.T.Linganathan, T.Raviharan, relatives of the victims and the public from the area.
