An Indian politician from the southern state of Tamil Nadu has been sent to prison after being found guilty of corruption.

G Mallika, a former member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for "accumulating wealth disproportionate to the known sources of her income".

The judgement was delivered by a special court set up to try corruption cases against a former chief minister, Jayalalitha Jayaram, and her associates.

The judge refused to suspend the sentence to enable Ms Mallika to appeal against the verdict and she was taken to prison.

Ms Mallika had represented a constituency in northern Tamil Nadu and was believed to have been close to a minister in the cabinet of former chief minister Jayalalitha.

She was charged with amassing wealth to the tune of 20 million rupees ($460,617).

Shock verdict

G Mallika is the second politician in the state to be prosecuted for corruption in less than a month.

Last month a former minister, Nagore Meeran, was sentenced to three years imprisonment but he has since lodged and appeal.

Judgement is also expected in a couple of cases involving Jayalalitha herself, leader of the regional AIADMK party, in the next few weeks.

The rather severe judgement in Mallika's case is sure to send shock-waves through the AIADMK camp.

Under Indian laws anyone found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act stands disqualified from contesting any election for six years thereafter.

If Ms Jayalalitha is similarly charged, she could be barred from standing for election seriously damaging her party's electoral prospects.