Convicted of wife's murder, man hangs himself in prison

A 36-year-old man convicted of killing his wife for dowry reportedly committed suicide in the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara in South Bengaluru on Thursday.

Mahesh alias Masthi Kumar, from Kalkere village, Shivamogga district, was found hanging with a towel tied to a window grille in the music hall in Barrack 'A' around 9 pm. His body was found in a standing position, according to the prison authorities.

Jail wardens had gone looking for him after he went missing from his cell in the prison's Barrack 'B'.

On Thursday night, the gates of Barrack 'A' were closed and all the convicts returned to their respective cells. A few prisoners found Kumar missing. They then informed the jail wardens.

Barrack 'A' also houses a higher education training centre, a gym, a wheelchair-manufacturing unit, a library, a yoga room and a prayer hall. It is kept open from 7 am to 6 pm for the use of convicts.

Kumar was taken to the jail hospital where he was declared brought dead. His body was then moved to the Victoria Hospital for post-mortem. The jurisdictional Parappana Agrahara police have registered a case of unnatural death and are awaiting the post-mortem report.

Prison officials said Kumar showed no signs of depression as he normally mingled with other convicts. He was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017. "If a convict or an undertrial shows signs of depression, jail wardens keep a watch on him, but Kumar appeared normal," a senior prison official said.

Just on February 27 this year, serial rapist and murderer M Jaishankar alias Psycho Shankar had committed suicide by slitting his throat with a shaving blade.