6) Kumudini Boat Massacre
On 5th May 1985 at least 23 minority Sri Lankan Tamil men, women and children were on a ferry boat sailing from the island of Delft to the island of Nainathievu.
According to an eye witness the passengers were called one by one to the rear of the boat and told to shout their name, age, address and the destination of their journey. Then they were unceremoniously hacked to death by six Sri Lankan navy personell with hatchets.
When the eyewitness approached the upper deck, he saw blood all over and the cut pieces of human bodies. He shouted and refused to move: “I was then hit on the head and I fell. I felt that I was dragged and cut on my head by some kind of a hatchet. I received further injuries on my stomach and legs and fell between the boards of the bottom of the boat. I pretended to be dead and lay there. I felt further bodies falling over mine and the cries of distress of men and women”.
Officialy 23 were killed but it may have been as many as 48.
☛ Now: Sokushinbutsu: The Monks That Mummified Themselves
