CHENNAI: “Only Chief Minister Jayalalithaa can save my son Perarivalan’s life,” said a weeping K Arputham, mother of Perarivalan, sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.She was talking to reporters on Friday, a day after President Pratibha Patil rejected the clemency petitions of Perarivalan, Murugan and Chinna Santhan, all sentenced to death in the case.She said that if Ex-President K R Nayaranan could commute the sentence of Nalini, the first accused, to life imprisonment, why couldn’t the President do the same for her son, the 18th accused. She said Congress president Sonia Gandhi had recommended commuting of the sentence even for her son. Arputham said that she had been running from pillar to post for the last 20 years for justice.“My son was falsely implicated by the CBI,” she claimed. She said she had tried, in vain, to meet former CM Karunanidhi. “But I hope the present CM, who had passed a resolution in support of Eelam Tamils, will listen to my plea. Only she can save my son’s life,” she said adding that the CM should pass a resolution to save his life.She said that her family, including Perarivalan, worked towards promoting ideals of Periyar. “The reward is death sentence for my son. Only those from poor socio-economic background are punished mercilessly,” she charged.Arputham said that she had sent her son when the police called for inquiry, but he was soon “fixed under a false case” that he supplied batteries for a belt bomb. “Even CBI officer Ragothaman had said that they were not able to identity who had made the bomb,“ she said.Even Ex-SC Judge, V R Krishna Iyer, after reading a book by Peraivalan, had wanted the sentence to be commuted, she said.
Comments
0 comment