Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was laid to rest next to her mentor MGR at his memorial site at the Marina Beach in Chennai, at 6:20pm on Tuesday.
Before she was buried, the final rites were conducted. A Hindu priest was also present. Although the tradition in Jayalalithaa’s community – Iyengar Brahmins – is to cremate, she was buried.
The last rites were performed by her close aide Sasikala, and another relatively young man.
So, who was this person?
It was earlier speculated that the final rites could be performed by Vivek, the son of Sasikala’s niece Ilavarasi.
But the person who performed the last rites along with Sasikala was Deepak Jayakumar, the son of Jayakumar who is Jayalalithaa’s deceased brother.
Not much is known about Deepak, who has lived a life of relative anonymity away from the media glare. He is reported to be a real estate businessman in Chennai.
Deepak is Deepa Jayakumar’s brother. Deepa was denied entry to Apollo recently.
The Times of India reports that Deepak’s “family has been estranged from Jayalalithaa and relations between the two have been rather strained ever since the grand wedding of her foster son VN Sudhakaran in September 1995. Jayalalithaa did come to their T Nagar residence a month later when her brother (Deepak and Deepa’s father) died. Last year (2013), Deepa's mother Vijayalakshmi too passed away. The last time Deepa met her aunt was at a film function in 2002. Her several attempts to meet Jayalalithaa in the last decade proved futile.”
Deepa studied in the UK, while her brother Deepak did an MBA in the US, according to TOI.
Those who visited Rajaji Hall to pay homage to Jayalalithaa through the day confirmed that they spotted Deepak with M Natrajan, Sasikala’s husband.
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