The wife of Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapaksa has reportedly stated that her husband is willing to testify if an international inquiry is launched into the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna.
Somaratne Rajapaksa was convicted as the primary offender in the Krishanthy Kumaraswamy murder case, which is linked to the mass grave.
According to the Virakesari newspaper, Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapaksa’s wife has made the claim in a letter sent to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently.
According to the newspaper report, in her letter, she asserts that her husband was not involved in any act other than burying the bodies of Krishanthy Kumaraswamy and her family, which had been brought to the Chemmani checkpoint after being murdered at the headquarters of the 7th Brigade under the orders of Captain Lalith Hewage.
The report further states that she claims that past governments presented themselves to the international community as having punished military wrongdoers, while in reality protecting senior officers and penalizing only lower-ranked soldiers.
Lance Corporal Rajapakse, who was sentenced to death for Krishanthy Kumaraswamy’s murder, had disclosed certain information to his wife concerning that incident and the Chemmani mass grave.
Based on this, his wife, S.C. Wijewickrama, has sent letters to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, and Justice Minister Harsha Nanayakkara, requesting an independent inquiry.
It is reported that Lance Corporal Rajapakse’s wife also plans to send a letter to the UN Human Rights Council this week regarding the matter.
Shocking the nation in the late 1990s, the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy case involved the abduction, rape and murder of a schoolgirl and three of her family members by military personnel.
Delivering its verdict in 1998, the Trial-at-Bar sentenced the accused to death. Subsequently, a five-judge Supreme Court bench affirmed the conviction and the sentences imposed on the accused and dismissed their appeal. (Newswire)