The LTTE had forcibly cut the hair of girls trying to flee the conflict during the last stages of the war to mislead the military into thinking they were Tiger cadres, a latest UN report said.

“Some women and girls trying to flee the conflict areas had their hair forcibly cut by the LTTE as a deterrent to fleeing, knowing that women with short hair would be suspected by the Sri Lankan Army of being LTTE cadres and would likely be treated differently from other internally displaced persons,” stated a report from the UN Secretary General’s Office, handed over to the UN Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict.

The report also said that some young girls were forced by their families to marry their relatives to avoid forced recruitment by LTTE during the final stages of the war.

Meanwhile, the annual report which had once listed the LTTE and the TMVP- led by Karuna Amman and later Pillayan as outfits involved in child recruitment, now does not have their names listed with the end of the war.

The report also states that there has been no evidence of significant recruitment by the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulighal (TMVP) in 2009.

In the districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitivu, a total of 199 cases of children killed and 146 cases of children maimed were reported from 1 January 2009 to 19 May 2009, although the actual number of casualties is likely to be higher, the report added.

The Annual Report gives an overview of the situation of children affected by conflict and action taken for their protection over the reporting period. In mid-June the report will be discussed in the Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.