Foul play suspected in the death of wife

By S Sabastianpillai

(April 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) According information received from the close circles of Seevaratnam Nimalan, his wife Nivetha is said have died under suspicious circumstances in India.

Nimalan is the only son of one time LTTE fund manager Nagendram Seevaratnam.

Unemployed Nimalan who devotes himself to a life of pleasure without commitments or responsibilities married an upper class Bramin girl of Indian origin from Tamil Nadu a few years ago. His father too was pleased that his son was marrying a superior class woman and went to the extent of buying a property for his daughter in law for £70,000 in Chennai.

Nimalan encountered difficulties in getting his wife down to the UK due to his personal financial circumstances and had to seek employment as a bus driver for a brief period to prove to the British Embassy that he was employed. Soon after her arrival in London, Nimalan was sacked from his employment for talking on the mobile phone whilst driving.

Nivetha’s arrival in London was momentous for all the family members and the father in law too was planning to assign responsibilities for her at the Muththumari Amman temple that he runs in the South London.

Sources said, the relationship with the in-laws soon deteriorated at home and Nivetha was very badly treated by them. She was treated like a servant in the house and was made to do all the household work to the extent of washing the plates of her in-laws before she could eat.

She had four miscarriages as a result of pressures. The situation became nerve wrecking for Nivetha and she pleaded with the husband to move out of the in-laws house. With the greatest reluctance Nimalan rented a room and moved out facing considerable pressures from the family members.

The pressure put on Nivetha was unbearable for her. According to a source, the in-laws had asked her to return the £70,000 paid for the property in Chennai. Highly distressed Nivetha had no choice than to go to Chennai to have a little respite from the troubles and to decide her future. Few weeks after her return she became ill and died in the hospital. It is still not known what the real cause of her death was and there are stories that there could have been foul play due to the circumstances she encountered in London.

One source said Nimalan and his sister Ambihai’s application for visa to attend the funeral were refused by the Indian High Commission in London. But they managed to persuade the officials and obtained the visa.

Unemployed Nimalan is a candidate for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TNGTE) election to be held on 2 May 2010. Since his return from the funeral, Nimalan is actively campaigning for his election. He is said to belong to the hardcore LTTE group who wants to take control of the TNGTE from the moderates.

Nimalan went on hunger strike near the House of Commons last year. News reports published in the British media on 20 May 2009 stated: ‘Nimalan Seevaratnam, a 41-year-old lorry driver from Harrow, said: [Prabhakaran] is the Robin Hood of the Tamils. He has long life and he will live much longer than anyone thinks.’