Two Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts on hunger strike, demand release
Chennai, Feb 11 (IBNS): Nalini Sriharan (55) and her husband Murugan (52), two convicts serving life sentences in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, have gone on indefinite hunger strike in Vellore Central prison demanding they be released, media reports said.
This comes five months after the Tamil Nadu cabinet recommended they be released.
The couple, who are lodged in Vellore Central prison, has also appealed to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to release the other five convicts in the case - Perarivalan, Santhan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.
Purohit has not responded to the cabinet's September because of which the two have begun their indefinite hunger strike.
“While Nalini started her protest inside the special prison for women in Vellore on Saturday, her husband Murugan launched his hunger strike protest on February 2. Even as the state government has urged the TN Governor for the release of seven convicts, the Governor has not taken any decision. Even though all the seven convicts have spent most of their lives in prison, it is not fathomable why the Governor is delaying the signing of papers enabling their release in spite of the TN cabinet resolution recommending the same,” Hindustan Times quoted their lawyer as saying.
Rajiv Gandhi, who remained the Prime Minister between 1984 and 1989, was assassinated during an election campaign in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, on May 21, 1991.
He was killed in a suicide bombing. At least 14 other people were killed.
The convicts have been in jail for more than 27 years.
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