Nalini Sriharan, who is one among the seven life term convicts in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has, on Monday, attempted to commit suicide in the Special Prison for Women in Vellore district, where she is currently lodged.

The development has emerged various speculations on what's the reason that stirred her to end her life in the prison, where has been lodged for the past 29 years. According to the police, there was a dispute between Nalini and the other life convict in prison. The other inmate has moved her complaint about the dispute with Nalini to the jailer and asked the jailer to shift her to another block. 

On the night hours of Monday, the jailer went to the cell where Nalini is lodged to conduct an inquiry about the dispute during which, the police stated, that Nalini had reportedly threatened to commit suicide after being upset about the dispute. However, the jailer stopped her from proceeding further. 

The incident had happened around 8.30 pm on Monday night. Nalini's counsel has denied the police version and asked why the jailer went to conduct the inquiry at 8.30 pm. Her advocate has said that the prison officials have been trying to conceal the real cause and reason behind her suicide attempt. 

Responding to the notion of the prison authorities' claim on the dispute, Nalini's advocate further stated that the spat between the inmates is common in the prison. Nalini has been lodged in the prison for 29 years and she hasn't said or even attempted to commit suicide in these years. The advocate pressed that the development needs to the investigated and clarified by the concerned authorities.

Nalini, her husband Murugan, and five others have been serving the lifetime imprisonment in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case. In 2014, the Supreme Court has commuted their death sentence to life sentence. Nalini has been lodged in Vellore Prison for the past three decades and she is the only woman in independent India for serving such a long prison sentence.

In March 2020, the Madras High Court has rejected Nalini's petition in which she has sought the directive from the High Court to acquit her from the prison as she has been illegally detained in the prison. In her petition, she stated that the Tamil Nadu government has passed a resolution of recommending the Governor to acquit all the seven convicts from the prison in September 2018. 

Nalini said that the recommendation made by the state government has been pending before Governor since 2018 and by citing the delay from the Governor, Nalini stated that she has been illegally confined and she must be released. However, the High court has dismissed her plea by stating that it can't pass an order to the Governor to act on the recommendation.