Mrs. Koneswary was constantly harassed at the Central Camp checkpoint which is on the border of Amparai Batticaloa district. On the afternoon of May 17, 1997, Mrs. Koneswary was verbally assaulted and sexually harassed by four police officers at this checkpoint and defended herself by shouting at the officers and demanding that they leave her alone. At 11pm that same day, Mrs. Koneswary, a mother of four, was allegedly raped and killed by the police after carrying her four-year-old daughter away. It is reported that her rapists killed her by exploding a
grenade on her abdomen thus destroying the evidence of any rape. According to her neighbours, she had history of problems with the Central Camp police in the
Kalmunai district in eastern Sri Lanka. During that time she had been subjected to alleged persistent harassment at the Central camp checkpoint.{{cite web |url= http://sundaytimes.lk/970713/news4.html Two months before she was killed, some police officers had allegedly cut and took away a
Margosa tree from her yard. Although she is reported to have filed a complaint with the officer in charge at Central Camp immediately, nothing was done. Subsequently, Mrs. Koneswary complained to a deputy inspector general in
Ampara, who intervened on her behalf, and instructed the local police to return the timber to the family. It was after this incident that the alleged verbal abuse and sexual harassment of Mrs. Koneswary began. On May 17, around 11 p.m., as described by her four-year-old daughter, some "uncles with guns" had entered the
hut, carried the little girl outside and left her near a neighbour's fence. According to villagers, Mrs. Koneswary had that night sent her three other children to her relatives who were living nearby. The little girl is the only witness to the ensuing crime. ==Reactions==