31st anniversary of forcibly disappeared Father commemorated in Batticaloa

by Velraj
Aug 15, 2021

The 31st anniversary since human rights activist Father Eugene John Hebert was forcibly disappeared was commemorated in Batticaloa yesterday.

A memorial for Rev. Fr. Hebert was held at the Eastern Technical Institute in Batticaloa on Saturday, with locals laying flower and candle tributes. The US-born Jesuit missionary was a well-known basketball coach at St. Michaels’s College. He was forcibly disappeared along with Tamil student Betram Francis in Eravur in August 1990.

Last year, a statue of Fr. Hebert was erected on the 30th anniversary since he was forcibly disappeared in honour of his charitable, educational and sports work and contribution.

Father Hebert joined the Trincomalee District Church of Jesus Christ in 1948 to work as a missionary for Sri Lanka. He went on to work in Trincomalee and Batticaloa and served as a science graduate teacher and sports instructor at St. Soosaiyappar College and then St. Michael's College, Batticaloa in 1970 as a basketball coach.

During the armed conflict in 1990, he rushed to the Valaichchenai area to evacuate the people, including priests and nuns who had been trapped by the Sri Lankan army. Father Hebert went missing with a Tamil student in Eruvar when they were travelling on a motorbike from Valaichchenai to Batticaloa on 15th August 1990.

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