Consider us as victims not killers: Rajiv assassin post release
What's the story
One of the six convicts in the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who was released on Saturday, said that the people of north India need to look at them as the "victims" instead of "killers" or "terrorists." RP Ravichandran, upon his release, also stated that time would judge them as "innocents" even if they carry the blame for being terrorists.
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Time will judge us as innocent: Ravichandran
After being released from the Madurai Central Prison in Tamil Nadu, RP Ravichandran told news agency ANI, "The people of north India should see us as victims instead of terrorists or killers. Time and power determine who is a terrorist or a freedom fighter but time will judge us as innocent, even if we bear the blame for being terrorists."
Twitter Post
Pics of Ravichandran's release
Tamil Nadu | Ravichandran, one of the six convicts in the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi, released from Madurai Central Prison pic.twitter.com/zkFQNfTcgo
— ANI (@ANI) November 12, 2022
Convicts
Nalini, Ravichandran had approached SC
Convicts Nalini Sriharan and Ravichandran had approached the Supreme Court seeking release from prison, just like fellow convict AG Perarivalan in the assassination case. This came after the top court evoked its extraordinary powers on May 18 under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant release to AG Perarivalan, a former PM assassination case convict.
Information
Perarivalan applied for early release
Some of the accused were also given death sentences by the court, but the Supreme Court reduced their death sentence to life imprisonment in 2014. Upon the remission sentence, RP Perarivalan had filed a plea for an early release from jail.
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Nalini wants to be with her family
Nalini had earlier expressed her appreciation toward Tamil Nadu and central governments for assisting her during her 32 years of imprisonment and added she wants to be with her family. Speaking to ANI, Sriharan said, "All my family members have been waiting for such a long time. I want to thank the state and central govt. They helped us a lot during this period."
Details
Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
In 1991, a suicide bomber assassinated ex-Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi during an election campaign at Sriperumbudur. A woman suicide bomber, while bending over to touch Rajiv's feet, blew up herself with an explosive-laden belt. Along with Gandhi, 14 others lost their lives in the incident. The court in 1998 sentenced the 26 accused, including Nalini and Perarivalan, for their involvement in the assassination.