G. Arputhammal, who ran a campaign to save her son A.G. Perarivalan from the gallows in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has joined hands with a collective of fisherwomen to fight for the release of five fishermen condemned to death by a Colombo court.
After visiting the families of the fishermen, Ms. Arputhammal and Amutha Nambi, who heads the women’s wing of the Naam Tamizhar Katchi, led a procession of fisherwomen at Thangachimadam on Monday.
Explaining how she had fought against the capital punishment ever since her son was condemned to death two decades ago, Ms. Arputhammal asked the families to stick to their resolve to get back the fishermen.
She said the Centre should take firm steps to secure the release of the fishermen as they were falsely implicated in the case. Some of the children were yet to see their fathers, and the young wives of four fishermen and an aged mother of one had been leading a pathetic life since their arrest by the Sri Lankan Navy on November 29, 2011.
Strike continuesMeanwhile, Rameswaram fishermen continued their strike which they launched on October 30, when the Colombo High Court pronounced the verdict.
