Gujarat: HIV positive murder accused found hanging inside jail

An HIV-positive murder accused allegedly ended his life by hanging himself inside his cell at Surat's Lajpore central jail, where he had been lodged as an undertrial since the last three years, police said on Sunday.

The jail staffers found the body of the 38-year-old deceased late on Saturday night, an official said.

"He had been in this jail since October 2017 in a murder case. He ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling of his cell last night," inspector Nitesh Desai of Sachin police station in the city said.

"The jail officials found his hanging body around 10.30 pm and informed the police. He was HIV positive. We are trying to ascertain the motive behind his extreme step," he said.

He had allegedly murdered a man, for which a case had been registered against him at Chok Bazar police station in Surat, Desai said.

"The undertrial had tested positive for HIV during his jail stay," he added.

One of his relatives said that he was depressed as his family members were not taking any steps to bail him out despite his repeated requests.

Police said his family was told about his death early on Sunday.

His body was shifted to the city's civil hospital for post-mortem, the police officer said.