Tamil students shot dead by Sri Lankan police remembered three years on

by Abi
Oct 20, 2019

Students at the University of Jaffna held a vigil in memory of two of their peers who were shot dead by Sri Lankan police three years ago.

Media faculty students Nadarajah Kajan and Vijayakumar Sulaxan were shot dead as they were on their way home on a motorbike by Jaffna police officers in Kokkuvil on October 20, 2016, sparking protests across the North-East, further around the island and internationally.

File photo: thousands of Jaffna University students stage a sit-in outside the Northern Province governor's secretariat, demanding justice for the shooting

Five police officers were arrested and put on trial in the months after the killing, and three were soon acquitted and became witnesses for the prosecution.

After presentation of evidence to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court, two police officers are awaiting indictment for murder at the High Court. They were both released on bail on June 27.

Members of the university student union held a vigil in the union’s auditorium today.

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