• Children make up 41% and infants 22% of the dead, report tells Jaffna court
• Report cites coffins, coins, personal belongings as signs of formal burials
• Later dumping of waste, animal carcasses disturbed earlier graves 
• Overlapping pits indicate repeated use of site over a long period
• Radar survey indicates burials beyond excavated area
• Authors say findings remain provisional pending laboratory analysis

A third interim report on the forensic archaeological excavation in Chemmani in Jaffna, submitted to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on 19 October, recorded a minimum of 574 individuals. By its own preliminary estimate, 41% of the dead were children and 22% were infants.

The report also recorded 51 separate accumulations of disarticulated bones, meaning bones that were no longer joined together in their original positions, and 170 artefact entries. 

Titled ‘Forensic Archaeological Excavation in Chemmani, Jaffna (2025/2026): A Summary Report on Findings,’ it was written by Prof. Raj Somadeva of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology at the University of Kelaniya and Anusha Wanninayake. A copy was obtained by an online news publication. Its prologue was dated 10 October and it was sent to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) for Jaffna, Dr. S. Pranavan, on 15 October. The findings ran to 17 pages.

The authors stressed that their conclusions remained provisional.

How the investigators worked

The report said combining forensic archaeology with a judicial mandate provided an empirical framework for distinguishing hidden burials, often linked to illegal killings, rapid disposal, or suspected human rights violations, from organised, formal burial practices. 

The team examined four areas: how the site had changed over time, the soil layers, the human remains, and the objects found with them. The report said this allowed the sequence of events to be reconstructed free from speculative bias and produced findings that were legally defensible.

Before digging, the team used satellite imagery, which the report described as a way to minimise damage to evidence while choosing where to dig. The images showed white rectangular shapes, patterns of heat, and soil colour that the report said were likely caused by localised heat and altered soil density, which indicated disturbed ground. These guided the placement of two excavation areas.

Trench 1 (Site 1) was a grid measuring 28.5 metres by 18.0 metres, or 513 square metres, dug to between 1.30 and 1.60 metres. Trench 2 (Site 2) consisted of three narrow trial trenches, each 0.50 metres wide, dug to 0.80 metres to test the rectangular discolorations. It lay 14 metres east of the cemetery’s cremation platform and 40 metres east of Trench 1.

A site changed by later activity

The report held that the location did not function exclusively as an isolated burial ground. Several later activities had altered it and damaged the remains: the dumping of municipal and domestic waste, the digging of pits to bury dead cows and goats, and the scattering and shallow burial of hospital waste across Site 1.

According to the report, the pit digging cut through earlier human burials, moving bones sideways and vertically and leaving them in new positions. It concluded that parts of the site had been turned into a composite dumping area for household refuse, animal carcasses, medical waste, and discarded human remains.

Layers of soil

The report placed the Jaffna Peninsula within two geological periods: the Miocene, represented by hard limestone bedrock, and the later Quaternary, whose deposits included several kinds of sand and fine lagoon sediment. Three soil layers lay above the bedrock, and the report said identifying them helped investigators tell natural deposits from graves and from later pit digging.

Layer 1, the brownish-grey topsoil, was up to 24 centimetres thick and rich in decayed leaves and household waste. Layer 2, a greyish-brown stratum of up to 36 centimetres, was a mix of dune and beach sand. It had been heavily disturbed by pit digging and contained cow and goat bones along with shallow human remains cut through by later digging. 

Layer 3, greyish-olive in colour, was a dense clay and sand deposit resting directly on the limestone. It contained most of the original human remains. The report noted that the limestone made the soil highly alkaline, with a pH above 8, which affected how bones and other materials survived.

Who was buried, and how

Beyond the proportions of children and infants, preliminary field evaluations put adults at 30% and sub-adults at 5%. The remains were present both as fairly complete skeletons and as bone accumulations.

Most skulls faced the same direction. Seventy-two percent were oriented towards the north-west, 11% towards the south-east, 7% towards the south-west, and 3% each towards the north-east and west. The north, east, and south accounted for 1% each, and a further 1% could not be determined. 

The report said the minor variations could reflect different burial phases, limited space, or the differing cultural backgrounds of those who had carried out the burials. It added that the north-west clustering indicated that a cultural or religious alignment was frequently maintained.

Among the skeletons not disturbed by later digging, the report found that the vast majority had been buried in one of two orderly positions: hands folded over the abdomen, or arms laid straight alongside the body. It contrasted this with the Phaleron Captives, discovered near Athens, who were buried in chaotic, bound postures and are cited as a benchmark for execution burials.

Two skeletons, SK 227 and SK 429, were found seated upright. The report noted that seated burials in South Asia had been documented in connection with Hindu spiritual traditions such as Samādhi or Jīva Samādhi, but cautioned that posture alone could not confirm this without other evidence, such as the structure of the grave and associated ritual objects.

The 51 accumulations of loose bones, the report stated, did not represent primary chaotic burials. Several, including Accumulation 51, contained iron nails, metal plates, and rotted wood. The report read this as evidence that later digging had broken up earlier coffin burials and mixed the bones with the wooden fittings.

Depth and layout

Burials in Trench 1 lay between 0.24 metres and 1.52 metres below the surface. Many child burials were shallow, at under 0.50 metres, but the report stated that shallow burial was not limited to children, as many adults and sub-adults in the western sector also lay at depths above 1 metre. It concluded that depth was governed by local digging conditions, available space, or timing rather than age.

The graves were not laid out in neat rows. Skeletons overlapped and burial pits cut into one another. Together with coffin fittings found between overlapping layers, the report said this strongly indicated that the site was used repeatedly over a long period rather than in a single event.

Clothing and personal items

No cloth was found on any of the 574 skeletons. The report stated that this did not mean the dead were buried unclothed, as natural fibres decayed quickly in alkaline, damp, and microbe-rich soil. Plastic buttons, metal eyelets, and plastic studs were recovered with multiple skeletons, and the report treated them as proof that clothing had been present.

The 170 artefact entries were grouped into six categories. Finger rings, such as that with SK 278, and bangles, such as that with SK 165, were found only with adults. Glass and plastic beads, including those with SK 47, SK 96, SK 405, and SK 417, were found almost entirely with children. Metal amulets were recovered with SK 132, SK 154, SK 164, and SK 254, and Sri Lankan coins with several skeletons, including SK 72, SK 77, SK 95, SK 203, SK 223, SK 239, and SK 536.

Traces of cloth were found on several coins. The report linked this to a traditional Hindu and Buddhist protective practice of wrapping coins in small pieces of fabric and tying them to the hands or waist of a seriously ill or deceased person. It described the coin with SK 367 as an intentional ritual deposit tied to personal beliefs.

SK 25 had the richest set of belongings: a plastic bag, cloth cut and prepared for sewing, shoes and socks, and a metal anklet chain known in Tamil as kāl changili and in Sinhala as pāda salamba. A concentration of coffin nails around the skeleton led the report to describe a formal, individual coffin burial with personal effects.

The report also recorded plastic floral garlands as expressions of mourning. Its text, however, stated that the garlands were found with a single skeleton while also citing SK 56 and SK 48, leaving the attribution unclear. Rusted iron nails and joining plates were recorded across many graves.

What the coins said about dates

A coin found with SK 367, legible after laboratory conservation, bore the date 1870. The report distinguished between the year a coin was minted and the year it was buried, explaining that coins were often kept for generations or reused in rituals. The date therefore showed only that the burial occurred no earlier than 1870.

A thick layer of ash was also found 5–6 metres from the cremation platform. According to the report, the older cremation area was levelled, bulldozed, and redeposited when a concrete retaining wall was built for the modern platform. Coins in the ash, better preserved than those in the clay, carried dates of 1920 (associated with SK 172), 1944, 1963, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1991, and 1994. 

The report said this wide spread of dates confirmed that the layer built up over several decades through long-term cemetery operations rather than a single event.

Radar survey beyond the dig

To find out whether burials extended beyond the excavated area, the team carried out a Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey, which detects objects beneath the surface without digging. 

The surveyed grid measured 28 metres from north to south, and its central module, containing North Trenches 1 to 7, the main open trench, and South Trenches 1 to 10, was 15 metres wide. Two side zones flanked it: 14 lanes to the west around an old well, labelled WT 1 to WT 14 and WT 1B to WT 14B, and seven lanes to the east, labelled ET 1 to ET 7.

The scans showed many curved radar reflections across the north, south, east, and west lanes. The report said their signatures were consistent with further skeletal pits and buried burial structures, and concluded that the burial complex extended into surrounding unexcavated cemetery land beyond the 513 square metres dug.

The report’s conclusions

The report compared the Chemmani evidence with the usual features of clandestine mass graves: disordered bodies, bound limbs, no burial fittings, no ritual preparation, and uniform shallow dumping. It stated that the evidence showed significantly higher parity with organised, formal burial practice. 

It cited four lines of evidence: coffin hardware, ritual items together with age-specific jewellery and mourning garlands, consistent body positions and seated postures, and overlapping pits reflecting long use of an established municipal cemetery.

To explain how 574 individuals came to lie within 513 square metres, the report also considered high-mortality crises such as epidemics or sudden catastrophes. It stated that in such situations, families and attendants still kept formal elements such as coffins, shrouds, coin tying, and floral offerings despite rapid burial.

The authors said the report was an interim medico-legal evaluation for the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court. A final legal and historical determination, they stated, required the completion of laboratory analysis of the bones, detailed comparison of how the remains had changed over time, advanced chemical soil analysis, and the full integration of the radar anomalies in areas not yet excavated.

Background to the excavation

The Chemmani site had long been linked to enforced disappearances during the civil war. It first came to public attention in 1998, when a military personnel member, Lance Corporal R. Dewage Somaratne Rajapakse testified about the abduction and extrajudicial killing of civilians during military operations in Jaffna in 1996. Limited excavations in 1999 recovered 15 bodies, but comprehensive State-led investigations stalled for decades.

In July 1998, Rajapakse and five other security personnel were convicted and sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court for the 1996 abduction, gang rape, and murder of 18-year-old Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy in Jaffna. They were also found guilty of murdering her mother, brother, and a family friend who went searching for her.

In February 2025, human remains were later unearthed accidentally by construction workers during earthmoving at the Sittupattu Cemetery premises in Chemmani, which are also known as the Ariyalai Siththupaththi crematorium grounds. The Jaffna Magistrate’s Court then issued an exhumation order for formal, systematic excavations. The site lies in the J/94 Grama Niladhari Division under the Nallur Divisional Secretariat.

Field work ran for about 80 days under the direct observation of the Magistrate and the Chief JMO. Prof. Somadeva and Wanninayake co-led the forensic archaeological team. The inquiry also drew on forensic experts, archaeologists, and legal counsel representing victims’ families, while local attorneys, human rights organisations, and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) monitored the proceedings.

Victims’ families challenge interim report in court

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

A motion was filed before the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on Thursday (22) challenging the findings, observations, interpretations, and conclusions contained in the summary interim report presented by Professor Raj Somadeva on the forensic archaeological excavation at the Chemmani-Siththupaththi site in Jaffna.

Attorney-at-Law Kasthury Ahalankan, representing the aggrieved families of the disappeared, submitted that the report failed to adequately address material circumstances and available evidence relating to the discovery of human skeletal remains at the site.

The motion argued that the findings must be assessed in the context of the location where the remains were discovered, the circumstances of their recovery, the archaeological setting, associated artefacts, the number and distribution of the remains, and the historical circumstances prevailing in the area during the relevant period.

The families raised several objections to the report, seeking a more comprehensive scientific assessment of the evidence before conclusions are drawn about the circumstances in which the remains were deposited.

Site’s designation as a crime scene

The motion noted that the Chemmani-Siththupaththi site had been treated and declared a crime scene by the Jaffna Magistrate following the discovery of human skeletal remains. According to the motion, the location is understood to be associated with a Hindu cemetery where cremation, rather than burial, was customarily practised in accordance with Hindu religious rites.

The families argued that the site’s customary use was a material consideration in determining how the remains came to be deposited there. They called for the report to explain the evidentiary basis for any conclusion that the remains resulted from ordinary burial practices or another non-criminal event.

Questions over burial ground designation

The motion further contended that no designated burial section or authorised burial ground allocation had been identified for the precise area where the remains were recovered.

It called for the report to establish the legal and factual basis for treating the excavation area as an ordinary burial site, with reference to cemetery records, land-use history, applicable legislation, and other reliable evidence.

The families also questioned the omission of the term ‘mass grave’ from the interim report, noting that Prof. Somadeva had used the terminology in three previous reports. They argued that the omission raised concerns about the accuracy and validity of the latest report.

The motion requested consideration of the Cemeteries and Burial Grounds Ordinance and other relevant legislation, while emphasising that any alleged statutory violation must be established through applicable law and evidence.

Shallow remains raise questions

The families stated that numerous human skeletal remains had reportedly been discovered at depths of approximately 1 metre or less below the ground surface.

They argued that the depth, distribution, stratigraphic position, and condition of the remains were material forensic and archaeological considerations that required a clear scientific explanation.

The report, they submitted, should distinguish between observed facts and hypotheses and explain whether the evidence supported ordinary individual burial, multiple burial, secondary deposition, the dumping of bodies, disturbance of earlier remains, or another scientifically supportable explanation.

The motion also referred to more than one instance in which an adult skeleton was reportedly found carrying a child. The families described these associations as unusual and called for a detailed forensic and archaeological examination to establish the circumstances in which the remains were deposited.

Families dispute epidemic hypothesis

The motion specifically challenged any suggestion that an epidemic, natural catastrophe, or other non-criminal event could explain the discovery of the remains without identifiable and verifiable scientific evidence.

It called for the scientific and factual basis of any such hypothesis to be disclosed, including relevant stratigraphic findings, osteological observations, chronological evidence, and historical records.

The families maintained that, in the absence of adequate supporting evidence, an epidemic or natural catastrophe should not be treated as an established explanation and that alternative possibilities should remain open to investigation.

Sandal and other artefacts require examination

The motion further alleged that the report had not adequately addressed the condition and individual circumstances of particular skeletons or the objects found alongside them.

It cited a skeleton reportedly discovered in association with a sandal or slipper, arguing that the item’s precise location, relationship to the remains, and manufacturing date were relevant to determining the context of the discovery.

The families requested that individual findings be properly recorded, photographed, catalogued, and scientifically assessed to support reliable conclusions.

Questions over coins and chronology

The motion also raised concerns over what it described as insufficient consideration of coins and other artefacts recovered in association with the skeletal remains, including coins reportedly bearing the dates 1991 and 1994.

It argued that these objects could help establish the chronological context of the deposits, subject to verification of their authenticity, provenance, precise recovery locations, and association with the relevant remains.

The families called for a comprehensive assessment of the recovered material alongside the archaeological and forensic evidence before definitive conclusions are reached about the Chemmani-Siththupaththi site.