Accused in India gang rape case dies in his cell
Source: Agencies |
March 12, 2013, Tuesday
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A MAN on trial for the gang rape and fatal beating of a 23-year-old student aboard a New Delhi bus committed suicide in an Indian jail yesterday, police said, but his lawyer and family allege he was killed.
Ram Singh, who was accused of driving the bus during the December attack, was under suicide watch in a cell with three other inmates at New Delhi's Tihar Jail when he hanged himself with his own clothes about 5:30am, police officials said.
"It's a grave incident," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said. "It's a major lapse."
The government has ordered a magistrate's inquiry and would take action after it received the report, he said.
Singh, 33, was one of five defendants facing the death penalty if convicted of the rape, which horrified Indians and set off national protests. A sixth accused is being tried and jailed separately because he is a juvenile.
Ram Singh's family and lawyer alleged foul play in his death.
"There were no circumstances which could have led to Ram Singh committing suicide. There was no mental stress. He was very happy," his lawyer, V.K. Anand, said. Lawyers for the defendants had previously accused police of beating confessions out of the men.
Indian jails have a reputation for overcrowding, poor management and brutal treatment of inmates.
Ram Singh's father, Mangelal Singh, said his son had been raped in prison by other inmates and had been repeatedly threatened by inmates and guards. Nevertheless, he said he visited his son four days ago and he appeared fine and gave no hint of any despair that could have driven him to take his own life.
Ram Singh also had a badly injured hand and would have been unable to hang himself, his father said.
"Somebody has killed him."
Mangelal Singh said he feared for the safety of another son who is also on trial in the rape case.
The defendants were being housed in separate buildings on the jail grounds and were all under suicide watch, a jail official said.
At a news conference, Shinde declined to say how Ram Singh could have managed to kill himself without alerting the other three inmates in his cell or the guards monitoring him.
Vimla Mehra, director general of the jail, declined to release details of the incident.
"The inquiry is being conducted and it would be premature to make any statement about the details of the incident," she said.
The rape victim and a male friend were attacked after boarding the bus on December 16 as they tried to return home after watching a movie, police say. The six men, the only occupants of the private bus, beat the man with a metal bar, raped the woman and used the bar to inflict massive internal injuries on her, it is alleged. The victims were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.
The attack set off nationwide protests about India's treatment of women and spurred the government to hurry through laws to protect them.
Ram Singh, who was accused of driving the bus during the December attack, was under suicide watch in a cell with three other inmates at New Delhi's Tihar Jail when he hanged himself with his own clothes about 5:30am, police officials said.
"It's a grave incident," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said. "It's a major lapse."
The government has ordered a magistrate's inquiry and would take action after it received the report, he said.
Singh, 33, was one of five defendants facing the death penalty if convicted of the rape, which horrified Indians and set off national protests. A sixth accused is being tried and jailed separately because he is a juvenile.
Ram Singh's family and lawyer alleged foul play in his death.
"There were no circumstances which could have led to Ram Singh committing suicide. There was no mental stress. He was very happy," his lawyer, V.K. Anand, said. Lawyers for the defendants had previously accused police of beating confessions out of the men.
Indian jails have a reputation for overcrowding, poor management and brutal treatment of inmates.
Ram Singh's father, Mangelal Singh, said his son had been raped in prison by other inmates and had been repeatedly threatened by inmates and guards. Nevertheless, he said he visited his son four days ago and he appeared fine and gave no hint of any despair that could have driven him to take his own life.
Ram Singh also had a badly injured hand and would have been unable to hang himself, his father said.
"Somebody has killed him."
Mangelal Singh said he feared for the safety of another son who is also on trial in the rape case.
The defendants were being housed in separate buildings on the jail grounds and were all under suicide watch, a jail official said.
At a news conference, Shinde declined to say how Ram Singh could have managed to kill himself without alerting the other three inmates in his cell or the guards monitoring him.
Vimla Mehra, director general of the jail, declined to release details of the incident.
"The inquiry is being conducted and it would be premature to make any statement about the details of the incident," she said.
The rape victim and a male friend were attacked after boarding the bus on December 16 as they tried to return home after watching a movie, police say. The six men, the only occupants of the private bus, beat the man with a metal bar, raped the woman and used the bar to inflict massive internal injuries on her, it is alleged. The victims were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.
The attack set off nationwide protests about India's treatment of women and spurred the government to hurry through laws to protect them.
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