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Death in Prison

BY VIBHUTI AGARWAL AND PREETIKA RANA

One of the five men accused in the gang rape of a 23-year-old Indian woman—a crime that received widespread international attention—was found dead in jail, his lawyer said on Monday, March 11.

Ram Singh was found dead at Tihar Jail, Delhi’s main prison, at around 5:15 A.M., said his lawyer, V. K. Anand.

Mr. Singh, 33 years old, and four other men were being held at the jail during their trial at a special court in Delhi on charges that include kidnapping, rape and murder. The five men have pleaded not guilty.

“He hanged himself [from] the ceiling with his own clothes,” said Sunil Gupta, spokesman for Tihar Jail.

Mr. Gupta said Mr. Singh had three cellmates. He said the cellmates “were clueless about his intention to commit suicide. They were sleeping when the incident happened.”

V. K. Anand spoke with the media at the Delhi hospital where Mr. Singh’s body was later taken for autopsy.

Rajinder Singh, Delhi’s assistant commissioner of police, who is part of a special task force investigating the Delhi rape case, said Mr. Singh used his “own clothes” to hang himself.

“He used the sleeping mat to make a noose, string from his trousers as a rope to hang himself.”

Mr. Singh’s lawyer contested the police version.

“It is not possible he committed suicide. And the theory that he used his own clothes can’t be true as there is high security inside the prison,” Mr. Anand said.

Mr. Gupta denied allegations of negligence by jail authorities. “I am aware media channels are accusing jail authorities for negligence, but I deny this allegation. There are guards outside every ward here in Tihar. Ram Singh’s ward, too, had sufficient guards. It is not possible to have guards outside” every cell, he said.

Mr. Gupta said the four other accused men at Tihar, who are in neighboring cells, are being closely watched by jail authorities following the suicide.

Addressing reporters in Delhi, Indian home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, “It’s a major lapse. It’s not a small incident. It’s a suicide.”

“A magisterial inquiry has been ordered. Things will be clear once the report comes,” he added.

The five men, along with a juvenile who faces juvenile court proceedings, are accused of luring the young woman and a male friend onto a bus, then beating the friend and beating and sexually assaulting the woman with a metal rod before throwing both of them naked onto the side of a highway on the evening of December 16.

The young woman, a physiotherapy student, later died of her injuries. Mr. Singh was the regular driver of the bus, one of thousands of private buses that ply the capital’s streets.

The case drew widespread attention in India and worldwide for its brutality and for the spotlight it shone on India’s failure to protect women. The bus traveled around South Delhi, near an enclave popular with diplomats, for about 45 minutes as the assault took place. Protesters marched in Delhi and other Indian cities, and the government has since moved to strengthen laws to deter crimes against women.

Assistant commissioner of police Rajinder Singh said Mr. Singh’s body had been moved to a nearby hospital for a postmortem. “Only after the inquiry is done by special district magistrate, we can say what exactly happened,” he said.

Reached by telephone, the father of the rape victim said, “We are feeling a bit relieved with this development. But we really don’t know what more to say right now.”

Mr. Anand said that during the last court hearing, on March 8, Mr. Singh “looked cheerful since he met his 5-year-old son in the court.” He said he didn’t know what had driven Mr. Singh to this extreme step. “He was happy with the way the trial was proceeding.”

A. P. Singh, a lawyer for Akshay Kumar and Vinay Sharma, two others facing trial, said he was skeptical about authorities’ explanation that Mr. Singh hanged himself. “How is it possible for a prisoner to hang himself inside a jail cell? Is Tihar’s security so weak?”

He added, “My clients are terrified, scared, they fear for their safety.”

Mr. Singh’s father said in an interview that the family, too, doubted the official version of events. “I had met him six days back,” said Mange Lal. “He said the authorities are not treating him well.” He also noted that Mr. Singh couldn’t use one of his hands efficiently since an accident several years ago.

Tihar’s spokesman has said the prisoners in the rape case have been treated properly and confirmed that authorities believe it was a suicide.

—Saurabh Chaturvedi, Rajesh Roy, R. Jai Krishna and Aditi Malhotra contributed to this article.