Samaritans shot for saving lives

My son, Pireemash Aanantharasa Singharasa, went to Muttur to work for Action Against Hunger (ACF) without telling us. After the fighting started there, he said he'd come in the evening. He told a friend he was afraid of the shelling and the fighting, but that he trusted the Army wouldn't harm them because they were working for ACF. But it was the Army who went and shot all of them. Their bodies were found face down, like they were sleeping. My son had a bullet through the back of his head, that came out of his forehead...

I had trusted my son would take care of me because when he was younger he'd always say he'd take care of us. He'd study and work and take care of us. But now I have no son...Now I am always crying, and there's no one to wipe my tears...

We know very well that it was the Army that killed him. The Army is working for the government, they're the ones who killed him. They took all the documents in the office and all their hand phones. Their morning tea was just like that on their desks. Some people's tea was just like that, half drank. They were killed wearing their sarems, early morning, even before they had put on their clothes for the day. But they were all wearing the ACF symbol on their shirts because they thought the Army wouldn't hurt them with the ACF logo...

Now all other non-governmental organizations are afraid to provide help to the people because if they help they'll be killed by the Army like the ACF workers. Like my son.

-Singarasa Mary Josephine, 38 years