Premawathi Manamperi Memorial, Kataragama

When the first JVP uprising was crushed by the military, on April 16th 1971, 22-year old Manamperi was one of several young girls who was arrested for her alleged involvement in the movement. She was tortured all night but revealed nothing about her supposed rebel activities thus infuriating Lieutenant A. Wijesuriya, in charge of her interrogation, who made her walk naked across town while he and another officer continually beat her.

The officers opened fire on the girl, near the Kataragama Post Office and buried her alive. They returned on two separate occasions to finish her off. The two volunteer army officers were subsequently tried and sentenced to 16 years rigorous imprisonment. In 1988, during the second JVP uprising, Lieutenant A. Wijesuriya was killed by a JVP hit team seeking retribution for the murder of Premawathie.

A memorial was built to Ms Manamperi in 1979, in Kataragama. It incorporated a clay pot from which pilgrims to the Kataragama shrine could avail themselves of water thus conveying merit to Ms Manamperi. The main feature of the memorial was a large mural that depicted various events in her life including her brutal killing. It was subsequently obscured through the application of dark blue paint and seems to have been demolished now.