CHENNAI: As the clamour for clemency for the three Rajiv Gandhi assassins grew, one more voice added strength from a London suburb.

Harithra, the teenaged daughter of Murugan, living in an undisclosed place in the UK, has sent letters to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, appealing to them to forgive her father.

"I can understand Sonia Gandhi's loss. She is an important leader. Rajiv Gandhi's assassination is a very big issue. It was a big mistake done by somebody. Her children lost their father. I can understand their feelings, since I was always away from my parents. Sonia madam can understand a daughter's feelings. I request her to intervene and save my father," 19-year-old Harithra told TOI over telephone from the UK.

"It is my mother's dream that I should pursue medicine," she said. Harithra spoke of her childhood, the trauma of having both parents in prison and her anguish over the imminent execution of her father. Soon after she was informed about the President of India rejecting her father's clemency plea, she applied for a visa to visit India.

Harithra said, "I never thought that my father's mercy petition would be rejected. I request the Tamil Nadu CM to intervene. Everybody calls her 'Amma'. Even I wish to call her Amma. I believe she can understand a daughter's crisis. I feel she is a saviour," she said, adding a plea "Amma, please save my father".

Thanking everyone for raising their voice to save the three Rajiv assassins from the gallows, Harithra said,

"Tamils living in the UK have also called me and consoled me. They will take out a rally soon and hold a demonstration in front of the Indian high commission here." Harithra was born in January 1992, eight months after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. She was picked up along with Murugan few days later in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1992. While the SC confirmed the death sentences given to four of the accused - Murugan, Nalini, Santhan and Perarivalan, Nalini's sentence was later commuted to life.