New Delhi: In a sensational twist in the gruesome Delhi gangrape-cum-murder case, one of the accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in a high-security cell in Tihar Jail early on Monday morning, raising questions over monitoring of undertrials.
Significantly, the 33-year-old Ram Singh, who has a slight deformity in his right hand after an accident, hanged himself from the grill of his cell in Jail No 3 using his clothes, jail officials said.
The news of his death immediately triggered demands from his lawyers and family for a CBI probe. They alleged that he was murdered inside the jail and refused to believe that he could have committed suicide.
Forensic experts have visited the Jail premises to collect samples. Singh was under depression for the past couple of days and last evening, he even did not have food, jail sources said, a claim contested by his lawyers.
Since it was a death under suspicious circumstances, the Delhi government ordered an inquiry by a Metropolitan Magistrate.
“Singh was not alone in the cell when he committed suicide. Other inmates were present and a guard was also posted. But nobody came to know about it. Around 5am, he was found hanging,” a senior jail official said.
Prone to violent behaviour and mood swings, he had suicidal tendencies and was under “suicide watch,” he said.
Singh, who was to be produced before court for its daily hearing, was rushed to the jail hospital where he was declared brought dead.
His body will be taken to a hospital for post mortem.
“There is already an inquiry which has been ordered by Tihar Jail on suicide of the main accused. We are enquiring into the matter,” R P N Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs, said.
The girl was allegedly raped in the bus by him and his five associates, including a minor, in south Delhi after brutally beating her and her male friend.
The girl died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.
Singh, who was arrested a day after the incident, was the driver of the bus in which the girl was raped.
His brother Mukesh was driving the bus when the girl was sexually assaulted.
All the adult accused, charged with murder and gangrape, face punishment up to death.
The other four accused came to the Saket court where lawyers are on strike.
M L Sharma, a lawyer claiming to appear for Singh, had moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the case out of Delhi on grounds that the trial would be vitiated in the capital. The court rejected it.
Singh’s lawyer V K Anand said after the death that they would again move the Supreme Court to shift the trial from Delhi as they feel that the accused are not safe here.
In a related development, the court hearing the case was informed about Singh’s death. Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna ordered that an inquiry be held into it.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in the wake of the alleged suicide.
“A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered. Till the report comes, it will be difficult to comment on the issue. Let the autopsy report come, things will be clear,” Dikshit said.
Singh’s family alleged that he was murdered and demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
“He has not committed suicide. He has been murdered and then hanged. I am saying this on the basis of the fact that evidence has been erased. He could not move his hand as it has fractures.
“I am also demanding that the post mortem be held infront me,” his father said.
Reacting to the incident, the girl’s family said they were “surprised but not saddened” by the suicide and are waiting for the four others to be sent to the gallows.
“We are surprised at the suicide but we are not sad. He would have been hanged even otherwise. We wanted him to be hanged publicly. He might have hanged because of shame. Now we are waiting for the four others to be sent to gallows,” a family member said.
Lawyers appearing for Singh and four others said “there is some foul play” behind the death.
“There is some foulplay. He cannot commit suicide. He is not such a person that can commit suicide. He was very happy with the way the trial was going on,” advocate V K Anand, who represents Singh and his brother Mukesh, alleged.
Lawyer A P Singh, appearing for Vinay Sharma and Akshay Singh, said that Ram Singh was “killed by jail authorities” and that Tihar is no longer safe for undertrials.
M L Sharma, who appeared for Singh initially, also alleged that Singh was killed by police.
Mamata Sharma, National Commission for Women’s Chairperson, raised questions about the functioning of Tihar Jail, saying it was “shocking” that the administration could not protect the undertrial and demanded an inquiry.
“Suicide in a high security jail like Tihar is a matter of serious security lapse. The authorities must conduct a thorough probe to ascertain what led Ram Singh to take such extreme step,” she said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh said that this is a matter of surprise that he hanged himself inside the jail.
“The whole world, India and we were waiting that these people would be hanged. Now if the main accused hangs himself inside the custody in the Tihar Jail, where security is supposed to be really tight, then it is a very surprising thing. As far as I know, he was being kept in a separate barrack. So, I feel that it is a very surprising and raises questions on the police authorities,” she added.
Former Tihar Director General Kiran Bedi said only an inquiry will tell under what special watch was he and what happened to that watch.
“How did this man give this watch a slip? I think we need to wait for the inquiry,” she said.
Tihar Jail authorities later submitted a report to the government on the alleged suicide.
The submission of the report to the Union Home Ministry came after it sought details from the prison authorities.
“We have submitted the report providing details about the incident,” a jail official said.
Vimla Mehra, Director General of Tihar Jail, told reporters that she would not comment because of the ongoing inquiry. (Agencies)