Sasikala Says Amma Refused to Go to Hospital in 55-Page Affidavit

Jayalalithaa had collapsed in the washroom of Poes Garden residence on 22 September 2016, the affidavit stated.

Sasikala had sought access to witness testimonies and evidence against her.

(Photo Courtesy: IANS)

J Jayalalithaa’s long-time aide VK Sasikala submitted a 55-page-long affidavit before the Justice A Arumughaswami Commission which is probing the death of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

Quoting the affidavit, NDTV stated that Jayalalithaa had collapsed in the washroom of her Chennai residence Poes Garden on 22 September 2016.

"She called out to me for help. I suggested going to hospital, but she refused. She passed out and I called the doctor for an ambulance," Sasikala wrote in the affidavit. Soon after, Dr KS Sivakumar, a relative of Sasikala, came to check on her.

Dr Sivakumar phoned Vijay Kumar Reddy, husband of Apollo Hospitals’ vice-chairperson Preetha Reddy, The Hindu reported, adding that two ambulances were dispatched to her Poes Garden residence.

A source told The News Minute that Jayalaithaa too informed her doctor that while she had refused to go to the doctor, she had been wheeled in when unconscious.

Sasikala took all efforts to take her for treatment. But Jayalalithaa refused. She was taken to the hospital due to giddiness and she recovered from this. It was the subsequent heart problems that killed her.

As told to TNM

Sasikala also wrote that the former chief of AIADMK was stressed by her conviction in the DA case against her in 2014. A diabetologist and a dermatologist had examined her and prescribed medication, the affidavit states, but Jayalalithaa soon had a relapse.

The document also lists the name of the 20 doctors from private hospitals of different cities who treated her between 2014 to 2016, The Hindu report stated.

According to TNM, treatment given to Jayalaithaa was based on the advice of doctors from Apollo as well as AIIMS.

She was put on the ventilator on September 27 because she couldn’t breathe, and on the next day it was doctors from AIIMS who advised that a tracheostomy be done.

A source to TNM

Between 22 September to 5 December, Tamil Nadu Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao visited her on 22 October 2016, while AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and M Thambi Durai and Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar saw her between 22-27 September 2016.

Along with the affidavit, four video clips that were shot with her permission were also submitted to the commission.

(with inputs from The News Minute)