Nalini Sriharan Rajiv Gandhi Case Convict, departs Jail After 31 Years
Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, 5 of six convicts released from Tamil Nadu jails
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Earlier in the day, five of the six surviving life-term convicts in the 1991 Rajiv Gandhi assassination case — Nalini Sriharan, her husband Murugan, and Santhan, Robert Payas, and Jayakumar — were formally released from Tamil Nadu jails, a day after the Supreme Court ordered their release. Convict RP Ravichandran was also scheduled to be released soon.
“It’s a new life for me with my husband and daughter,” she explained after revealing her identity. “I thank Tamil people for their support,” she added, but she denied going public. She also expressed gratitude to the state and federal administrations.’
The Supreme Court utilised its exceptional powers in May to release one of the seven prisoners, AG Perarivalan. On November 11, the court stated that the same order extended to the rest. It was observed that in 2018, the Tamil Nadu cabinet recommended to the Governor that the convicts be released, and the Governor was obligated by that recommendation.
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Nalini Sriharan, who was already on parole, went to a local police station this morning to fulfil her necessary attendance. After completing formalities at Vellore’s special women’s prison, Nalini was released and transferred to the central prison, where her husband V Sriharan, alias Murugan, and Santhan were released.
On the other hand, the Congress vigorously opposed the Supreme Court’s decision to release Rajiv Gandhi’s killers. It stated that the party did not agree with Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka, who had advocated for mercy for criminals.
Nalini Sriharan’s sentence was commuted to life in prison in the year 2000. Later that year, the sentences of the other six offenders were similarly lowered, and Tamil Nadu’s then-chief minister, J Jayalalitha, advocated their release. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, during a public rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, by a suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It was interpreted as retaliation for his sending of Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka in 1987, only to withdraw them after losing over 1,200 men in battle.
