Nalini Sriharan’s release was cleared by the Supreme Court this week.
Chennai:
Nalini Sriharan, one of six people convicted in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was freed a day ago by order of the Supreme Court, said on Sunday she had no role in the conspiracy. plotted and imprisoned for knowing her husband’s friends.
When asked if she regrets her role in the murder and that of others in the bombing, she maintains her innocence.
“I don’t really have any role. I know I’m convicted. But my heart, and my conscience… it knows what happened,” Ms. Sriharan told NDTV during an interview. interview.
She said she was not involved in the plot to assassinate the Prime Minister, but was charged because she was part of that conspiracy group.
“They are friends of my husband. So I got to know them. I’m a very private person. I don’t talk to them. I help when they need it, like going to the store, the theater, the guests. hotel or temple. I’ve been with them. That’s all. Other than that, I don’t have any personal contact, or I don’t know their family where they belong,” she said.
Before the death sentence was handed down in 2001, Ms. Sriharan said she expected to be executed at any time and was prepared to hang seven times.
“Seven times they gave me a black warrant (execution order) they’ve been waiting for me,” she said.
But she recalls meeting in prison with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi.
“She was a very kind person. She was an angel. And she made me respect myself because … we were not treated properly in prison,” Ms. Sriharan said.
“We weren’t even allowed to sit in front of the officers. We had to stand and talk. But when she came to see me, she made me sit next to her. It was a very different experience for me. “, she said.
Ms. Sriharan said Ms. Gandhi Vadra questioned her about killing her father when they met. She was emotional and cried.
“She asked me about her father being killed. She was emotional about her father. She also cried,” she said at a press conference.
Ms Sriharan also told NDTV about reconnecting with her daughter Harithra, a doctor in London who was born in 1992 to her in prison and later grew up outside. In 2019, upon getting married, Ms. Srihararan was granted parole for a month to attend it.
“She forgot me completely. I was the one who gave birth to her, but I broke up with her after two years old. So, after taking her out, she completely forgot who I was. Now what we’re trying to restore.” happened,” she said.
“It was a very difficult situation for her and me. We were adults. We could understand everything, but she was very young. She couldn’t understand what was happening. That was it. why is she suffering so much. So it’s been very difficult for me daughter,” she added.
Ms. Sriharan was sentenced to death for her role in the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by a Tamil Eelam Liberation Tigers (LTTE) suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
The sentence was reduced to life in prison due to the intervention of Rajiv Gandhi’s wife, Sonia Gandhi. Years later, the Supreme Court reduced the sentences of six more defendants in the case.
The decision was welcomed by many in Tamil Nadu, where their detention is an emotional issue, as many believe that the seven locals convicted were part of a conspiracy without knowing the extent of the crime. its.
