TN’s longest serving prisoner reunites with family
The 68-year-old fruit seller ended up in prison after an ill-fated incident unfolded on February 2, 1984
A young Natarajan with wife Vasantha
CHENNAI: The State’s longest-serving prisoner has finally left the high walls of the prison. After spending 35 years and seven months behind bars in various central prisons in Tamil Nadu, Natarajan, who was granted premature release, stepped out of the Vellore Central Prison for Men on Thursday late evening. He reunited with his family on Friday in Madurai.
The 68-year-old fruit seller ended up in prison after an ill-fated incident unfolded on February 2, 1984. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of a man, who reportedly accosted Natarajan and demanded mamul (bribe). He was one among the 27 prisoners granted premature release on Thursday under the amnesty programme to mark the 115th birth anniversary of former chief minister and Dravidian icon CN Annadurai.
The massive iron doors of the Vellore Central Prison opened late in the evening on Thursday after the prison officials completed the formalities to free Natarajan and six others. “He was coming out of the prison for the first time in 15 years,” said a prison officer and added that he was denied parole for his alleged role in the Madurai prison riots in 1997.
Breaking the news to his family, Natarajan took a bus to Madurai from Vellore with the help of a prison officer to return to his wife Vasantha and their daughter Pondy Selvi, who had vowed not to get married until her father breathed freedom.
Selvi was born to the couple when Natarajan was on bail.
Natarajan’s wife and daughter were happy and could not wait till he reached their native place in Sivakasi. So, they boarded a bus to Madurai for their reunion. “I was confident of getting released. My daughter was excited and happy to see me. I want to rebuild my life with my family and take care of them,” Natarajan said.
Financial constraints never permitted Vasantha and Selvi to travel to Vellore to meet Natarajan. However, Selvi never gave up the hope of seeing her father as a free man. “The act of self-defence of Natarajan shattered his life and kept him away from his family all these years,” said activist and advocate KR Raja.