Lodged at Trichy central prison, not seen my mother since 32 years: Rajiv Gandhi case convict’s letter
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By Shilpa Nair: Santhan alias T Suthenthiraraja, a Sri Lankan national, is one of the seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
He was ordered free by the Supreme Court on November 11, 2022, yet is lodged at the special camp located on the Trichy Central Prison campus, along with Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar.
In a letter, Suthenthiraraja talks about his life inside the special camp where “even sunlight doesn’t touch their body.” Through his note, he requests Tamilians across the world to lend their voices in support of him so that he can return to his home country.
Santhan stated that despite writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the External Affairs Minister to send him back to Sri Lanka or give him access to the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission office in Chennai to renew his identity proof, he received no response from them.
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“I have been lodged in the special camp inside the Trichy central prison campus for the last six months. Over 120 foreigners live in the special camp and around 90 of them are from Sri Lanka,” the letter read.
He further said that there is no differentiation between Tamilians, Sinhalese or Muslims at the special camp.
“Four of us, who have been freed by the SC in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi case, are kept in rooms where the windows are closed by a tin sheet,” he writes in his letter.
He further wrote, “While Robert Payas and Jayakumar are in one room, Murugan and I share another room. But these rooms are not close to each other. We can’t talk or interact with each other.”
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Santhan said that he is not even allowed to speak over the phone. Only blood relatives can meet the inmates.
He further questioned in his letter, “For a foreigner like me, how can I have a blood relative here in India?”
He said that the government gave them Rs 175 per day.
“For 32 years I have not seen my mother. I couldn’t be with my father in his last years and it has been troubling me. If my desire to be with my mom during her last days is wrong, then no one needs to support me,” he wrote in the letter.
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