The mother, of a Tamil man who has been missing since the end of the civil war, passed away on Wednesday in Vavuniya after spending over 10 years searching for her son.
Mangayarkarasi Balasubramaniam, aged 72, passed away on Wednesday morning (4th March) at 2:10am. She was originally from Vannarpannai, Jaffna but had temporarily moved to Puliyankulam, Vavuniya as she continued to actively participate in campaigns and protests with families of disappeared in Vavuniya.
Her son, Arudselvan Balasubramaniam, was her only child and disappeared during the end of the civil war. He was aged 21 at the time of his disappearance, and was said to be seen surrendering to Sri Lankan army at the Omanthai checkpoint in 2009 by eyewitnesses.
The Sri Lankan government is yet to provide familiy members of missing persons with answers and concerns over the lack of answers from the government were reiterated by the OMP earlier this week. The number of women who took to the streets to protest and are dying without answers for their missing loved ones are increasing, with this Wednesday marking 1111 days of protests, in Vavuniya.