SRI LANKA -“They killed my son”.

Dr Kasippillai Manoharan calls on Sri Lanka’s authorities to tell the truth about what happened to his son. ©Amnesty International

Dr Manoharan recalls the day when his son was gunned down by Sri Lanka’s security forces

The last time I heard from my son, Ragihar, was a mobile phone text message. It just said: “DAD”. That was 2 January 2006. He had been on the beach with four of his friends in Trincomalee,Sri Lanka, near our home.

That day, I heard a bomb blast near the beach. Two of my sons got back immediately. Ragihar did not.

 Within minutes of the explosion, I got a call from him. “Daddy,” he said, “the forces are around me.” He meant the security forces. That was all he said. After that, I got the text – my last contact with my son.

I rushed to the scene, but the navy guards there said: “No, you can’t go through at the moment.” They purposefully turned the lights off under the Gandhi statue, where my son and his friends had been sitting. And then I heard voices crying in Tamil: “Help us! Help us!” 

I kept arguing with the guards to let me in. Suddenly, gunfire flared by the Gandhi statue. Later, they said: “Five civilians are dead and two are injured.” I was in total shock.

MORE INFORMATION AND PETITION: http://livewire.amnesty.org/2013/08/15/they-killed-my-son/