Convicts in Rajiv assassination case continue hunger strike

Chennai, July 14 (UNI) Murugan and Nalini, the convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who were admitted to a hospital after their condition deteriorated following an indefinite fast, continued their hunger strike for the 20th day today.

The couple had been put on a drip at the Vellore Government Hospital and their condition was stated to be weak but stable, police sources said.

The duo, incarcerated in Vellore central prison, have been on indefinite fast, protesting against the Indian Government's ''delay'' in granting visa to their daughter, Arithra, to pursue further studies in Tamil Nadu.

While Murugan began his fast on June 25, his wife Nalini, lodged in the women's wing of the high security prison, followed suit the next day.

The couple gave up a six-day fast on June 19 after receiving a message from the Indian High Commission in Colombo that their daughter's visa would be ''positively considered.'' However, they resumed the fast demanding that Arithra, who had just completed her 10th standard ('O' level) in Sri Lanka, be given a visa immediately to pursue studies in Tamil Nadu.

Arithra, born in jail, is being brought up in Sri Lanka by Murugan's family. She visited her parents in the Vellore prison in January this year.

Both Nalini and Murugan have been in prison since 1991 after being convicted for conspiring to kill former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

While Nalini's death sentence has been commuted into life sentence, the clemency petition of Murugan is pending with President A P J Abdul Kalam.

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