An ongoing investigation into the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna has confirmed that a shoe recovered from the site dates back to before 1995.
Attorney Niranjan confirmed the finding following an on-site inspection of the Chemmani site on Monday.
According to his statement, a shoe bearing a price tag of 39 rupees and 90 cents was unearthed during excavations.
Subsequent inquiries with the manufacturer revealed that this model had only been sold between 1985 and 1995, confirming that the item predates 1995.
Meanwhile, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) has completed a cost-assessment report for the examination of 239 skeletal remains recovered from the site during two phases of excavation.
The examinations are expected to commence once the report is submitted to court, approved, and funds are released.
A panel of seven forensic experts has been proposed to lead the analysis, including Dr Sellaiya Pranavan, who served as JMO during the excavations, and Dr Mayutharan of Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
Specialists who previously worked on mass grave investigations, such as those at Kokkuthoduvai, have also been recommended for the panel.
The Chemmani mass graves were first uncovered in 1998, when a Sri Lankan soldier on trial for the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl testified that hundreds of Tamils who had disappeared following the army’s capture of Jaffna in 1996 had been buried there.
Excavations have since unearthed several remains, but calls for a full, transparent investigation have been repeatedly obstructed by the state.
Families of the disappeared and human rights organisations continue to demand accountability, insisting that justice for the Chemmani victims is inseparable from the broader struggle to uncover the truth about the tens of thousands of enforced disappearances across the Tamil homeland.