A chilling discovery at the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, has uncovered the skeletal remains of a girl, aged four to five, among 65 human skeletons exhumed from a site tied to the brutal LTTE conflict of the mid-1990s. Forensic archaeologist Raj Somadeva reported the findings to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on July 15, noting the child’s remains were found with a blue school bag and toy, according to lawyer Jeganathan Tathparan. Two other skeletons, showing similar clothing and anatomical features, are also suspected to be children.

The mass grave, located at the Sindhubaththi Hindu Cemetery, first gained attention in 1998 when Sri Lankan soldier Somaratne Rajapakse, convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, alleged hundreds of Tamil civilians were killed and buried there during the military’s 1995-1996 Jaffna reoccupation. A 1999 excavation uncovered 15 skeletons, some blindfolded and bound, but stalled investigations left families without justice. The current dig, prompted by skeletal finds during February 2025 construction work, resumed under court supervision in May and has now revealed 63 remains from one site and two from another, with excavations paused until July 21.

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party, labeled the site “clear evidence of war crimes and a genocidal campaign against Tamils” in a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, urging international forensic oversight. Amnesty International estimates 60,000 to 100,000 disappearances since the 1980s, while Tamil groups claim up to 170,000 deaths in the war’s final stages, against the UN’s 40,000 estimate. The 26-year conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in 2009, left deep scars, with Chemmani’s graves reigniting demands for accountability.

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