Jailed couple's toddler has grown up and ready to marry

CHENNAI: Rajiv Gandhi was five when the Gingee police arrested his parents for the murder of a relative. Now 33, who works for an auditor in Nungambakkam, has occasionally seen his father and mother only as prisoners.

On Tuesday morning, Rajiv and his two elder brothers Guna and Gunaseelam were among scores of relatives and friends of prisoners who were to be released from Puzhal as part of MGR's birth centenary. As soon as the prison gates opened, letting out 44 men and eight women, Gandhi spotted his mother Sundari. He ran to the woman draped in a blue sari and flowers on her grey mop of hair, and hugged her. "I am back," she said sobbing, and planted a kiss on his cheek. She looked older than her age, 55.

Also housed in Puzhal prison, her husband Surya Gandhi didn't walk out- he had to be wheeled out. The co-convict, now 62, had suffered paralysis of a leg and an arm three years ago; his left leg had to be amputated. Sundari broke down at the sight of her husband on a wheelchair, one of his hands paralysed. The couple and their three sons were soon in a huddle, planning a pilgrimage to Tirupati.

"All of us together going to Tirupati has been my mom's wish," said Rajiv, thanking the state government for fulfilling the dream. "One of the first things my mom told me after coming out of the prison was that I should get married. I didn't want to do that without my parents. Now I am ready," said Rajiv.

Surya and Sundari were arrested for the murder of a relative called Prabhu in Seenan Poradai village in Gingee. A property dispute led to a fight, and the couple attacked Prabhu with sticks and stones. The man died in a hospital and the police arrested five people including the couple. They were all convicted.

Like Surya and Sundari, it was a new chapter in freedom for 50 others who walked out of the Puzhal prison on Tuesday.

David Rajan of Madipakkam had been in prison for 30 years and John Antony of Kerala for 29 years. The government's decision extend the pardon to murder convicts who also faced charges of robbery and dacoity helped the two men come out.

A Easuraj, another convict who tasted freedom on Tuesday, who went to jail after passing Class 12, came out with 10 degrees, studying and taking exams while in prison.