A social media campaign seeking the release of one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, A.G. Perarivalan, began on Tuesday morning with the hashtag #ReleasePerarivalan on Twitter and Facebook.
The campaign has sought the release of Perarivalan, who has been in prison for 29 years, on the grounds of the ill health of his parents who are now 78 and 72 years old, as well as his own health issues in prison. The campaign also points to the sworn statement before the Supreme Court by V. Thiagarajan, the then CBI SP who interrogated Perarivalan, where the CBI had omitted the part of his confession that he had “absolutely no idea” of the purpose for which the two nine-volt batteries he bought would be used.
“The laws of our land state that no innocent should be punished. Mr. Thiagarajan’s sworn statement in the Supreme Court is a clean chit to Perarivalan. Imagine if his death sentence had been fulfilled, what a grave injustice that would have been?” Kavin Malar, a human rights activist, who is coordinating the social media campaign told The Hindu .
Ms. Malar said Perarivalan’s father has health complications, and Perarivalan too is suffering from health-related issues in prison. “Mr. Thiagarajan’s statement presents enough grounds to release Perarivalan. People now know of Perarivalan’s story and how he has been denied justice. This social media campaign is to build some amount of pressure to get the government to take note and release him,” she said.
Perarivalan’s mother, Arputhammal said her son had been incarcerated for 29 years. “When former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was alive, she gave an assurance that Perarivalan would be released. She told me that I will get my son back. After she passed away, I approached this government with the promise she made to me. But these people say the Governor has to decide,” she said.
Mrs. Arputhammal said she wants the Governor to take a call on Perarivalan’s release and not club it with the cases of the other six convicts. “For how long will you keep saying all seven, all seven? Even the Supreme court has expressed its displeasure over the progress of the case. He has already spent 29 years in prison,” she sad.
She said her husband, who is now 78 had to be admitted to hospital recently for a week. “At least in our last days, we want our son to be with us. We don’t know what kind of support he will be able to give us. But at least release him so that we can spend our last years of our life with him,” she said.
