Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts plead for mercy killing, write to PM Modi

Convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case, Nalini Sriharan and her husband V. Sriharan alias Murugan have demanded mercy killing. Nalini, who is lodged in Special Prison for Women in Vellore is one of the seven convicts in the case. She has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madras High Court's Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi demanding mercy killing.

'She said prison officials are ill-treating her'

Pugazhendhi Pandian, Nalini’s advocate on Saturday said that Nalini had sent a letter demanding mercy killing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Madras High Court Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and the TN Home Secretary’s office. “When I met Nalini on Saturday morning in Vellore Women’s Special Prison, she said that the prison officials are ill-treating her. She has been observing a hunger strike against the prison officials since last week. Nalini’s husband Murugan is also observing a hunger strike since last week as he was isolated in a small cell in the Vellore Central Prison,” Pugazhendhi told the media.

'My daughter is in a state of extreme stress' 

He added that extreme stress had driven Nalini to seek mercy killing. “Nalini and Murugan have been often indulging in a hunger strike. But, this time, they were firm in their demand. They want to be either released from the case or to be shifted to prisons located in other states,” Pandian said. Nalini’s mother Padma also agreed with Pandian that her daughter is reeling under severe mental pressure. “After completing 25 years in prison, my daughter is in a state of extreme stress. I have heard that the prison staff is not treating my daughter well. She wants to be shifted from the Vellore Prison. So, she is demanding mercy killing,” Padma told the media.

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High Court dismissed Nalini Sriharan's petition

Earlier this year, she had filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking direction to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release all the seven convicts as per the decision of the Tamil Nadu government cabinet in 2018, recommending their release under Article 161 of the Constitution. However, the High Court dismissed her petition as it could not order the Governor to take action. The seven convicts are A.G. Perarivalan, V. Sriharan alias Murugan, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Nalini Sriharan, wife of V. Sriharan. All the convicts have been in prison since 1991, the year when a woman LTTE suicide bomber blew up herself, killing Rajiv Gandhi on the spot at an election rally near Chennai.

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