Just days after VK Sasikala, the aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was hospitalised for COVID-19 in Bengaluru, her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi also tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday. Ilavarasi shares a jail cell with Sasikala at the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru. She has now been shifted to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru, where Sasikala is also admitted.

Sasikala and Ilavarasi have been lodged at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru since February 2017 after the Supreme Court upheld their conviction in the disproportionate assets case. The two along with another relative Sudhakaran were sentenced to four years in jai. Both Sasikala and Ilavarasi are scheduled to be released on January 27. 

The former AIADMK General Secretary Sasikala tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, a day after she was admitted in Bowring Hospital after she complained about breathing discomfort. She was later shifted to the nearby Victoria Hospital where she is currently being treated. 

In a health update shared on Saturday morning, Victoria Hospital stated that Sasikala was "conscious, alert and well oriented". Her oxygen saturation level was at 98% and it was reported that she was comfortable. "She is being treated as per standard COVID-19 protocols. She is being continuously monitored in the ICU," the update from Dr. Ramesh Krishna, the medical superintendent of Victoria Hospital stated. 

The duo are in prison for a disproportionate assets case that dates back to the 1990s during Jayalalitha's first term as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. It pertains to the amassment of assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore between 1991 and 1996.