My parents are from Pothuvil and I was also born and brought up there. I got married to my uncle’s son. It was arranged by my parents. He was at Inspector Eaththam. I got 4 children; we educated all of them very well.
During the 1990 trouble, my husband got caught. The military had rounded up the area and arrested 20 people. My elder brother and my husband all were taken from our house. None of them got released. We were all in our elder sister’s house. She was married to a Sinhalese, we all stayed there. The military came and our mother told them there is no one at home. They broke in the house and found all of us squatting in fear. They took all of them telling that they would be released after loading soda bottles. Till now they have not been sent home. Later we received a letter informing that they were dead. They have killed more than 200 people at the police station.
It was the STF who took them away. When we went to the police station to make an entry we were asked to tell that they were taken away by LTTE. But we didn’t write such, how could we do that, it was not them who did that. Would Tamil people do that? It was the military who came and caught them. They rounded up the place and even checked inside the wells with a stick to see whether anyone hiding there. Later the Muslim people came to rape women. Then a good Muslim man from our neighborhood came and chased them away saying don’t harm these innocent people. They ran away. After my husband got caught, Muslims from this side came to our house and attempted to attack us with knife. My husband was taken away and there was no men at the house so we got scared and got displaced to Komari and stayed there for about 2 years. Later an AGA told us to be in our own homes, so we returned.
When we went to Komari in 1990, somebody has put the LTTE’s cloth inside our house. So STF had burnt down the house. The house was fully destroyed. Later with great difficulties we rebuilt the house. My husband is no more, all the children together helped to rebuild the house.
My son got married in Vaalaichenai. He is in Vantharumulai with my daughter-in-law. He works as a bank manager. One daughter is in the university. The other one is working at Learners; it was my son who financed her university education. He got interested in a woman and decided to marry her. They came to our place proposing the marriage. We all agreed for their wish. Then I went to their house and then asked my son “you have gone through enough difficulties when you lived with me, are you going to suffer again coming to live here?”. Then my daughter-in-law came and said “No mother-in-law, we would look after him very well”. I agreed for their wedding and it took place in Batticaloa Mariage Hall. They happily lived and gave birth to two children.
She likes me very much and would say “come often Mother-in-law!”. Like that one day she told me “ I am going to attend a meeting in Vavuniy, the car has space in it, you too come Mother-in-law”. I agreed and went along with her. Her meeting got finished by 2pm and when we came back she told me, “I feel tired I would sit back to have a nap you sit in the front Mother-in-law”. On the way the car hit a cow and toppled in to a hollow. We both fell down. They brought us to the main hospital and kept in ICU. It seems that she had been talking well and has instructed others to take care of me. I was kept in the ICU for one month. Within 2 or 3 days my son was taken home. They didn’t tell me that my daughter-in-law had died. When I inquired about her I was told that she was taken to India to fix a wire in her hand. They told me about her demise only after three months when I have recovered.
She had two daughters. We are taking care of one and the other one is with her mother. Thinking that I was dead they have even canceled my ration, now I have applied for it.
Later the Tsunami incident took place. Water didn’t come here, but we feared it would come and went to Lagukala in a lorry. We were there for 10 days. Sinhalese people fed us and took care of us very well. We were given three meals a day. Later we came back in lorry and saw our houses were not damaged. My youngest son would buy food for us.
My youngest son studied in a Sinhalese school. He liked a Sinhalese girl and got married to her and brought her to this house. They got two children, one boy and a girl. My daughter-in-law is from Badulla and now lives near to the Sinhalese school here. I gave my house and land to my youngest son.
Now my youngest son and daughter-in-law are living with me. He didn’t study well. Daughter-in-law is Sinhalese. She got qualified for university. But her elder brother had torn the admission letter in anger that she had married a Tamil boy. So she didn’t go to the university. My son is driving an Auto. With that income we all are living well in this house.