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From demure neighbourhood girl to the gallows

S Nalini, one of the four convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to be sent to the gallows, is the only living member of the five-member squad which assassinated the former prime minister at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

A local girl who worked as a steno-typist in a private company in Madras, Nalini is the daughter of Padma and sister of S Bhagyanathan, two of the 19 other accused who escaped capital punishment. Incidentally, Nalini faced the maximum number of charges in the case.

Married to hardcore Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam militant, Sriharan alias Murugan, who is also to hang, Nalini had provided cover to the 'belt bomb' Dhanu and her stand-by Subha. Murugan, who initially acted as a conduit between Sivarasan and Nalini's family and carried letters from Dhanu and Subha to LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and women's wing leader Akila , had befriended and married Nalini as instructed by his mentors in Sri Lanka. He indoctrinated her and groomed her for a militant's role. Murugan, accused number three, incidentally, did not engage a lawyer but undertook his own defence in court.

Dhanu and photographer Haribabu, who, without his knowledge was assigned to capture the "assassination of the century" in frames, perished in the blast, while 'one-eyed Jack' Sivarasan and Subha, who managed to flee from the site, committed suicide in their hide-out in Bangalore when they were cornered by the Special Investigation Team.

As the number one accused in the case, Nalini faced charges under the Indian Penal Code and Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act on as many as 85 counts. She gave birth to a girl child while in custody in the high-security prison-cum-court in suburban Poonamallee where the designated court conducted the trial. She had been arrested on June 14, 1991 along with her husband when they alighted from a bus at Saidapet in Madras.

The couple will be leaving behind their eight-year-old daughter Sreeni who used to attend the proceedings in the trial court along with her mother. After the court's verdict is carried out the orphaned Sreeni will be left in the care of Murugan's relatives.

Meanwhile, Arivu alias G Peraivalan is the second Indian national, apart from Nalini, whose death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court. A diploma holder in electrical engineering, the local Tamil boy had assisted Murugan and Sivarasan in planning and executing the conspiracy.

On Sivarasan's instructions he bought two battery cells which were used in the belt bomb carried by Dhanu. He also purchased an Exide battery which was used by Sivarasan for operating an illegal wireless set. On May 4, 1991 he also purchased a motorcycle in his name for Sivarasan. According to the prosecution, Arivu was aware of the object of the conspiracy and had, in fact, purchased and supplied the two battery cells knowing fully well how they were going to be used.

UNI

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