Isaipriya

Shoba, also known as Shobana Dharmaraja, (commonly known as Isaipriya or Isaippiriya; 1982–2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist and television broadcaster for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). She died in the final days of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 with video evidence that she was captured by the Sri Lankan military before being raped, tortured and murdered. A senior United Nations official deemed the footage to be authentic. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also verified that it was her.

A biopic about her, Porkalathil Oru Poo, was banned in India as it would harm the nation's friendly relations with Sri Lanka.

Early life and family Shoba was born in 1982 and hailed from Delft Island. She was educated at the Memorial School and Vembadi Girls' High School. Her husband was also killed in the final months of the civil war in 2009.

Career According to the TamilNet website and Shoba's friends she suffered from rheumatic valvular heart disease and, as such, didn't provide any military service for the LTTE. Instead Shoba worked, under the stage name Isaipriya, as journalist and broadcaster for the LTTE's Oliveechchu television station in Kilinochchi.

Death According to the Sri Lankan military, Isaipriya, whom it describes as "Lieutenant Colonel Issei Piriya", was killed in battle by the 53 Division on 18 May 2009. However, according to TamilNet, Isaipriya had been a volunteer at the makeshift hospital in Mullivaikkal until 8 May 2009 and had ended up at the internment camps in Vavuniya District. TamilNet claims that Isaipriya and another woman were taken away from the camps by the Sri Lankan Army on 23/24 May 2009. The video showed a number of dead bodies including a naked woman with her hands behind her back. This woman was later identified as Isaipriya by several sources. An off-camera Sinhala voice is heard in the same video saying "I would like to fuck it again" in the segment showing the dead naked bodies of Isaipriya and Ushalini Gunalingam.

On 31 October 2013, Channel 4 News broadcast new video footage which showed Isaipriya alive and in the custody of the Sri Lankan military. Photographs are also shown of Isaipriya lying in a ditch, possibly dead, with a gash across her face and clear signs of sexual assault. Her mother told Channel 4 News that she had always thought that Isaipriya had been killed by shelling. Her mother and sisters sought political asylum in the UK.