Sasikala leaves for Thanjavur for husband's last rites

AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala on Tuesday afternoon left for Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu to attend her husband M. Natarajan's last rites after securing a 15-day parole, an official said.

"She has been granted parole for 15 days. During the period, she has been directed to limit her visit to Thanjavur and not to take part in any political activity," Bengaluru Central Jail Chief Superintendent M. Somashekar told IANS.

Natarajan, 74, died on Tuesday in Chennai after he was hospitalized on March 16 for chest infection and kept on ventilator support.

His body is to be taken to his village in Thanjavur district, about 350 km south of Chennai, for last rites.

Sasikala, 60, left from the central prison in a private car. She had reportedly collapsed in the prison on hearing the news of her husband's death.

Natarajan's death made the Prison Department grant the parole a week after Sasikala's similar plea was rejected when he (Natarajan) was admitted at a Chennai hospital for treatment.

Sasikala was last granted a parole for five days from October 6-12 to meet her husband who had then undergone a liver and kidney transplant in Chennai.

Sasikala is currently serving a four-year sentence since February 15 last year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction in a corruption case.

--IANS

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