IDP voices – Vijayakumar Ravichandran




(October 10, Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka Guardian) I am 26 years old. I got married two years ago. I have a small baby. We were living at Jeyapuram in Kilinochchi. My husband was working at the Poonahari MPCS shop.

We displaced to Chekkalai due to shelling but we were forced to displace again by shelling, On 5 August, we displaced to Uruthirapuram and we built a small shelter about 200 x 200 meters in front of the Uruthirapuram temple, which we thought would be a safe place.

On 27 September at 7.00am, I was returning from the well, I heard the noise of a big blast from shelling. I ran to the bunker with my wet clothes and my husband simultaneously reached the bunker with our child. We were there for about five minutes.

I felt uncomfortable because I needed to change my wet clothes and I went into the house. There was another blast and I fell down and my thigh was severely injured. Immediately my husband came there and with the help of my uncle, I was taken to bunker again. My husband tried to stop the bleeding by putting clothes. Finally, after the shelling stopped I was taken to Uruthirapuram Hospital. After I was treated, I saw that my left leg was missing. Can I ever walk again?
- Sri Lanka Guardian