adminOfficials at the maximum-security Tihar Jail in the Indian capital said bus driver Ram Singh (34), had hanged himself with a makeshift noose which he tied to a grille on the ceiling of his cell.
But Singh’s parents said their son had been previously assaulted in prison and had told them about threats to his life, while his lawyer said the death should be treated as murder.
Singh was one of six people on trial over the notorious gang-rape on December 16 which appalled India and brought simmering anger about endemic sex crime to the boil.
“He tied all his clothes together and used the ceiling grille and a wooden stool to hang himself,” the prison’s law officer Sunil Gupta told AFP, adding that he was found dead shortly before dawn.
India’s Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde called the incident “a major lapse” by the prison service and said security would be boosted for four other suspects lodged in Tihar who appeared in court yesterday. — AFP.
Online Reporter