The eldest child of S Padma, a nurse, Nalini completed her graduation from a Chennai college and was pursuing her Masters through correspondence while working as a stenographer for a private company in the city.
Nalini became close to pro-LTTE activists and allegedly even the active cadres at a printing press run by her brother P S Bhagyanathan where pro-Tamil Eelam literature was printed. It was here that she reportedly met V Srikaran alias Murugan, whom she married days before getting caught. Through Murugan, she reportedly met the suicide bombers, Dhanu and Subha, and their leader Sivarasan.
She was arrested on June 14, 1991. The TADA court sentenced Nalini to death along with 25 other accused on January 28, 1998. By the time the verdict was announced, Nalini had given birth to a daughter who had just turned six.
In May 2000, the death sentence was commuted to life by then Tamil Nadu Governor M Fathima Beevi.
