Sasikala gets parole for husband’s funeral

Imprisoned AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was granted parole for 15 days to attend her husband’s last rites in Thanjavur after he died early on Tuesday.

Her husband, 74-year-old M Natarajan, was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai on March 16 for a chest infection and kept on ventilator support. He died around 1.30am.

Sasikala “had moved a petition earlier in the morning and was granted parole for 15 days, including the days of travel,” said a jail official, who doesn’t want to be named. She reportedly collapsed in the prison on hearing the news of her husband’s death.

Sasikala is serving a four-year sentence in Parappana Agrahara central prison in the Karnataka capital since February 15 after she was convicted in a ~66.6-crore disproportionate assets case. “According to parole conditions, she is not allowed to move out of Thanjavur during this period. And, of course, she cannot participate in any political event,” the jail official said.

According to the emergency parole order, the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader is also restricted from speaking to the press. The 60-year-old Sasikala, who was an associate of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, left the prison in a private car around 1.40pm.

She was previously granted a parole for five days from October 6 to 12 to meet her husband, who then had a liver and kidney transplant in Chennai. Sasikala’s plea for another parole a week ago was rejected when Natarajan was admitted to the Chennai hospital for treatment.

Natarajan was an avid Tamil activist and also ran a vernacular magazine, called Puthiya Paarvai. He was a public relations officer with the state government. In 2011, Natarajan was one of the family members of Sasikala who were expelled by then AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa from the party and was re-inducted later.

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