Kith and kin of some of those who died along with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the human bomb blast on the night of May 21, 1991, have criticised the Supreme Court order releasing Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the case on Wednesday.
“Perarivalan is saying he lost 31 years of his life in jail. I was ten years old when my mother [Samudhini Begum, a widow and Congress worker) was killed in the blast. My mother's body was given to me in a bundle. Who will compensate for this? The court may set them free but there is God’s verdict. We endured pain,” said Abbas, a mobile repair shop owner from Chennai.
He questioned the celebrations including the bursting of crackers and the distribution of sweets over Perarivalan’s release. “Did he go to jail for the country?” he asked.
John, who lost his elder brother Edward Joseph then serving as a CID (Security Branch) Inspector, lamented that the other six life convicts in the case would now cite Perarivalan’s case and seek freedom. “No one understands our trauma,” he rued.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, responding to a question on the fate of the other convicts said that the Government would study the case judgment, consult legal experts and take steps for their release.
In the evening, Perarivalan and his mother met Stalin at the Chennai airport to thank him for supporting their case for freedom.
