The final report will be submitted within six weeks
The final report will be submitted within six weeks.”
On March 27, a crucial hearing is scheduled to be held at the Mullaithivu Magistrate's Court. This case is regarding the mass graves discovered at Kokkuthoduvai on June 29, 2023.
By the time the excavation of this mass burial was completed on July 15, 2024, 52 human skeleton remains had been unearthed. In addition, clothing, numbers on the clothing, the number plates they were wearing, and a digital tablet were found.
According to the officers’ overseeing the excavation, the devices could aid in the identification of the victims' family members. The excavation was led by Mullaithivu District Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Kanagasabapathy Vasudeva.
Many members of the Families of the Disappeared have already provided affidavits and DNA samples, including biographical data. If future investigations are successful, this will be the first mass grave in Sri Lanka to identify victims from the 23 mass graves discovered thus far.
“I have submitted two reports to the court regarding the Kokkuthuduwa mass graves. The first report is based on the clothes found with the skeletons excavated from the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave. The second report is based on other materials that will help in identifying the skeletal remains recovered from the Kokkuthoduvai mass graves. The final report will contain details such as the cause of the deaths of the deceased victims’, their ages and heights. Within six weeks, the final report will be submitted. Then the relatives of those victims with the number plates will be able to easily identify the deceased.”