JOIN USThree days after Ram Singh, the main accused in the Delhi gang-rape, committed suicide in Tihar Jail, a 29-year-old woman prisoner was found hanging on Thursday inside her cell.
Reshma, who was undergoing trial in a kidnap case, was found hanging inside a cell in sub-jail number six around 3 pm by a patrolling matron, said Tihar Prison’s spokesperson Sunil Gupta.
She used her dupatta to hang herself from the ventilator’s iron grill inside her cell. She was alone as the other two undertrials lodged in her cell were working at Tihar’s factory.
The jail matron informed senior officials. The jail doctor who reached the spot examined her and declared her dead.
Later, the Hari Nagar police station staff arrived at the cell with a forensic team and a magistrate. After examining the crime scene, the body was sent for post-mortem to Deen Dayal Upadhaya Hospital.
Reshma hailed from West Bengal and was residing at Sagarpur. She was arrested in November 2011 in a kidnap case in Jaitpur in south-east Delhi, and since then she was lodged in the jail, police said.
“She spent most of the time inside her cell as she was not given any work by the jail authority. Closed-circuit television cameras have not been installed at jail number six,” said Gupta.
Jail and police officials said prime facie, it appeared a case of suicide. However, a judicial inquiry and investigation have been initiated as per section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said Gupta. “The exact cause of death would be known after receiving her reports which include the post-mortem examination and forensic report,” he said. Her family has been informed. After two such incidents in a week, several questions related to poor security apparatus in Tihar Prison have been raised.