From death row to award-winning author, C. Selvam expresses remorse, reflects on the families of his victims

Oru Thooku Kaithiyin Vaakumoolam, a prison memoir by death-row convict C. Selvam, is a testament to the transformative power of reading, even on a mind hardened by violence.

“I started reading in the early years of my prison life. But I turned my attention to serious literature and novels after we were sentenced to death. Reading serious literature is different from reading ordinary books. I can read 400 pages of ordinary books, but only 200 pages of serious literature,” said Mr. Selvam, whose book has been selected for the Iyal Award, which is instituted by the Canada-based Tamil Literary Garden. The award was presented to him in absentia on October 18.

Mr. Selvam and his two associates, Sheik Meeran and Radhakrishnan, were sentenced to death for murdering Ayyavu, a notorious gangster, inside a court in Nagercoil in 1994. Though their death sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment, they would have to spend the rest of their lives in prison. They have already completed 32 years behind bars.

A rivalry turned violent

The murder was an act of revenge. The rivalry turned violent after Ayyavu and his associates killed 17 cows belonging to Mr. Selvam’s family in Puthukudiyiruppu, one of the most feared areas of Kanniyakumari district, after failing to find him. Enraged, Mr. Selvam and his friends retaliated by killing Ayyavu inside the Nagercoil court. The incident sent shockwaves across the State.