Nalini Sriharan, a convict serving a life sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has appealed to the National Commission for Women to help her get an early release, PTI reported on Sunday. In 2000, the NCW's campaign had got her death sentence reduced to a life term.

Her counsel P Pugazhenti said, "She is the longest serving woman prisoner. She has written to the NCW. Had the Tamil Nadu government used constitutional provisions, she could have been released earlier. However, they are relying on Criminal Procedure Code provisions."

In a letter to the commission, Sriharan said that no day has passed "without tears" during her 25 years in prison, as she has been unable to live a life as an "an ordinary woman". Sriharan claimed she has been eligible for release under various early-release schemes. Her husband, Sriharan alias Murugan, is also serving a life term in the same case.

She said she longed to see her daughter, who lives in the United Kingdom, and hoped to "arrange" her marriage. After her arrest on June 14, 1991, a special court had sentenced her to death in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in 1998.