One of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case is believed to have submitted a request for mercy killing to authorities at Chennai’s Puzhal Prison on Wednesday, reported Hindustan Times.
Robert Payas, who has been behind bars for more than 26 years serving a life sentence, has requested the Tamil Nadu government for euthanasia as he felt he would never get out of jail. He was one of the seven who were convicted for plotting to kill the former prime minister. Gandhi was blown up by a human bomb on May 21, 1991.
Although the Tamil Nadu government had decided to release all seven convicts in the case, the Supreme Court had blocked their remission process.
In a three-page petition to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Payas said he found no purpose in his life, and that no relative had come to visit him in prison either. “Hence, I’m never going to be released from prison, I request [you] to ‘mercy kill’ me,” he wrote.
Payas had submitted the letter to the superintendent of prisons of the convict ward on Wednesday, after which the SP informed his seniors. “We cannot make any decision based on his letter,” an unnamed senior police official was quoted as saying by The Times of India. “We have forwarded the same to the state Home Department through the DGP’s office. The matter pertains to the central government, and the review case is still pending before the Supreme Court.”
Payas is a suspected member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam commando team. He had confessed that he was one of the key members of the team that planned the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
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