Mystery woman says no mystery

Srirangam Usha (47), whose monetary ties with the Kanchi Mutt was highlighted by the prosecution yesterday while opposing the bail plea of J...

Srirangam Usha (47), whose monetary ties with the Kanchi Mutt was highlighted by the prosecution yesterday while opposing the bail plea of Jayendra Saraswathi in the Madras High Court, said today that she was merely a disciple of the Shankaracharya.

Usha, who appeared here a day after the prosecution claimed she was absconding, said she was a cancer patient and had availed of financial assistance from the mutt only to meet her medical expenses. Usha was interrogated for nearly six hours at the Kancheepuram all-women police station in connection with the murder case of mutt employee Shankararaman.

She will be questioned again on Wednesday morning. Usha also denied that she had been given free accommodation by the mutt. She said she had turned to the Shankaracharya for spiritual solace to tide over a rough patch in her life.

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Usha’s advocate, Sudha Ramalingam, said her client had undergone nearly 130 radiation therapy sessions. Referring to the long phone conversations Usha had with the Shankaracharya, Ramalingam said they were at a point when her client was depressed and wanted to commit suicide.

On reports that she had gone hiding, Usha said the police had already interrogated her at her Srirangam residence on October 12. Following the inquiry, she moved to Chennai to be with her brother and sister, after the media and neighbours started ‘‘troubling’’ her, said Usha. Usha’s husband deserted her long ago after his business ran into trouble, lawyer said.