Rites for Swathi begin at Srirangam

Though Swathi was born and brought up in Chennai, her mother Ranganayagi’s native place is Srirangam. She is the eldest daughter of Singam Iyengar. Ranganayagi’s two brothers and a sister are living in Srirangam. 

Ranganayagi never missed any family function in Srirangam and Swathi and her sister also used to accompany her. The family members said that Swathi along with her sister used to stay for around four to five days in Srirangam during Vaikunta Ekadesi festival. 

The funeral of Swathi took place in Chennai and the family members had scheduled the subsequent rites in Srirangam as per their family tradition. They have planned to organise rites from day 9, 10 and 11. As per the schedule, on Friday evening, the parents of Swathi arrived at their ancestral house on Adayavalanchan Veedhi in Srirangam. 

On Saturday around 8 am, Swathi’s father Santhana Goplakrishnan, uncle Mugunthan reached the Vishnu Patham, along the Kollidam river where the rites were held. A heavy posse of police was posted to keep media persons away. When the media persons approached Swathi’s father for his reaction over the arrest of the accused, he refused to reply.