Thousands mourn beloved leader Jayalalithaa in south India
CHENNAI, India — Hundreds of thousands of people thronged the southern Indian city of Chennai on Tuesday to honour their late beloved leader, Jayaram Jayalalithaa, a former film actress and popular politician.
Jayalalithaa, chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, died overnight following a heart attack a day earlier.
A sea of weeping mourners surged toward the steps of a public hall where Jayalalithaa’s body, draped in the Indian flag, was kept on a raised platform.
Thousands of police officers formed chains to stop the heaving crowd from surging up the steps. Men and women wept, some breaking into loud wails. Several mourners fainted from the heat and dehydration. Police said some had been keeping vigil outside the Apollo Hospital since Sunday and then walked to Rajaji Hall at daybreak.