JOIN USThe alleged suicide of Ram Singh, the main accused in the December 16 gang-rape case, in Tihar Jail on Monday raised several questions as a few officials, his lawyer and family members alleged that he might have been killed and later hanged to make it appear as a suicide.
Ram Singh, 33, was found hanging while three other inmates were sleeping in the small cell in sub-jail number three on Monday morning. The jail officials said he might have hanged himself around 3 am and one of them spotted him around 5:45 am.
“Whether he hanged himself or whether there was any foul play is still a matter of investigation,” police said, adding he did not have any “suicidal tendency”.
In connivance
But Singh’s father Mange Ram alleged that the police, in connivance with prisoners, killed him and created a scene of suicide.
“Why would he commit suicide when he was ready to face punishment for the heinous crime he committed? He was not under any kind of depression and there was no apparent reason for committing suicide,” he alleged.
Mange Ram wondered how he could commit suicide in the presence of three other inmates.
He reiterated that his son was killed and later hanged. “He told us several times that he was threatened in the jail. We lodged a complaint in this regard. We demand a CBI inquiry into the whole incident,” he said.
His lawyer V K Anand, too, alleged foul play and demanded an inquiry.
“It not as simple as it seems. There is some foul play. He could not have committed suicide as he was not the kind of person who would take his own life. He was very happy with the way the trial was going on,” said Anand, who also represents his brother Mukesh Singh, a co-accused in the case, lodged in sub-jail number four in Tihar.
He also said he would move the Supreme Court for shifting the trial from Saket as he feels the accused are not safe.
Lawyer A P Singh, representing Vinay Sharma and Akshay Singh, echoed Anand’s views. He alleged that Ram Singh was killed by officials and that jail is no longer safe for the rest of the four accused. He will now appeal to the court to release his clients on bail, he said, adding he feared that they might also be killed.
A few police and jail officials said Ram Singh was not under depression and was behaving normally, but that he might have taken the extreme step in shame.
“The matter is under probe and we wait for the investigation and post-mortem reports to come out,” said the jail official.