The chief minister of the Northern Province, members of parliament, school students and teachers jointly presented a petition to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, calling for the immediate release of students who were arrested in Jaffna earlier this month.

The petition, delivered to Mr Sirisena as he visited the Jaffna Vembadi women’s higher secondary school, contained the names of students arrested by Sri Lankan police for allegedly participating in a protest against the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl.

Mr Sirisena told the audience that he “will take actions to investigate this matter soon” adding that those who were proven to be innocent would be released.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) opened a roofing factory in Ampara on Wednesday.

USAID alongside a local company called Building Solutions have together invested approximately US $800,000 to build a factory to fabricate corrugated steel roofing and silos, said the US embassy in a statement.

The Sri Lankan military hosted an event earlier this month to “educate” the women of Kilinochchi about personal hygiene, reports the Sri Lankan army.

Some 200 women were “educated on ‘Personal Hygiene’” earlier this month, according to the Sri Lankan army website.

The family of murdered schoolgirl S Vithiya have said that they are experiencing ongoing harassment and have requested to be relocated.

Vithiya’s mother and brother told Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena during his visit that they feared for their safety and wished to be moved.

Mr Sirisena told the family that they would receive aid from the President’s fund and that he would discuss the issue of the family’s security with Northern Province chief minister C V Wigneswaran.