Delhi gang-rape suspect commits suicide

11 March 2013 03:51 am - 13 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The driver of the bus in which a young Indian woman was gang-raped and fatally injured three months ago has hanged himself in New Delhi's Tihar jail, police said.

Ram Singh was the main accused of five men and a juvenile put on trial for the attack on the 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist in the Indian capital.

The assault triggered nationwide protests and an intense debate about rampant crime against women in India.

A senior police official said Singh had committed suicide in his cell early on Monday. "It is true, he's dead," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tihar jail is India's highest security prison and officials there are likely to face tough questions about how such an incident could have occurred.

Independent inquiry

Speaking to Al Jazeera from New Delhi, Kiran Bedi, a retired police officer who used to run the prison, said an independent inquiry was need into the incident.

"The inquiry needs to show where the electronic eye or the human has slipped. That is what needs to be judged. It also needs to make clear weather anybody had a hand in it but I believe he hung himself from the prison grill by his own clothes."

The CNN-IBN news channel also said Singh hanged himself with his own clothes.

"He knew he was going to die anyway because we had and still have such a strong case against him," the physiotherapist's 20-year-old brother told Reuters news agency.

"I'm not very thrilled with the news that he killed himself because I wanted him to be hanged ... publicly. Him dying on his own terms seems unfair. But, oh well, one is down. Hopefully the rest will wait for their death sentence."

The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court last month while the juvenile's trial began last week.

Ram Singh's brother Mukesh Singh, gym assistant Vinay Sharma, bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Singh and fruit vendor Pawan Kumar are the other men on trial.

The five men have pleaded not guilty to rape and murder.

Gang rape

Police allege the six attacked the woman and her male companion on the bus as the couple returned home after watching a movie on December 16.

The woman was repeatedly raped and tortured with a metal bar. The couple were also severely beaten before being thrown onto a road.

The woman died of internal injuries in a Singapore hospital two weeks later.

Singh was a bus driver, despite an accident in 2009 that fractured his right arm so badly that doctors had to insert a rod to support it.

He appeared on a reality television show in a compensation dispute with a bus owner, who in turn accused Singh of "drunken, negligent and rash driving".

In the show, the moustachioed, slightly-built man was seen walking stiffly and holding his right arm at an awkward angle.

Singh's neighbours in the south Delhi slum where he lived described him as a heavy drinker with a temper.

One young woman said he used to get embroiled in violent rows and a relative recalled a physical altercation with her husband. Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies

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Comments - 13

GDJ100 Monday, 11 March 2013 04:02 AM

Death was indeed most deserved, but it should have taken place in a more severe and painful manner.

Rohan Nayer Monday, 11 March 2013 04:03 AM

What inquiry! He deserved it...

ANTON Monday, 11 March 2013 04:11 AM

GOT FREE ONE WAY TICKET TO GO TO HELL

Calistus Jayatilleke Monday, 11 March 2013 04:26 AM

Self-imposed justice.

Hadi Monday, 11 March 2013 05:29 AM

Guilty conscience.

xlntgson Monday, 11 March 2013 05:43 AM

If we don't have the courage to hang, (no hang men?) we can encourage cowardice suicide though not, the supposed natural justice!

kumar Monday, 11 March 2013 06:39 AM

He deserve that.

Kondebandapucheena Monday, 11 March 2013 06:56 AM

So early,Should have suffer more

mohamed asfar Monday, 11 March 2013 07:12 AM

wow...........

Impartial Monday, 11 March 2013 07:59 AM

This country should take the brunt of the blame. For decades rape victims in India were to keep quiet on account of saving the family name. So many rapists have got away with it, this would have been the same intent of the accused. To do the crime and get way with it. Unfortunately a girl had to suffer unimaginable torture in order for the Indian authorities to open their eyes. And these are the very people questioning our human right policies. When thousands of Indian women had to carry rape scars for life.

456fgr Monday, 11 March 2013 08:41 AM

1 down 4 to go !

God bless the soul of the lady who was raped & killed

ss Monday, 11 March 2013 11:03 AM

Meantime the rapist in Tangalle is presiding over the provincial council

laly wije Monday, 11 March 2013 01:27 PM

The only punishment metered

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Delhi gang-rape suspect commits suicide

Comments - 13

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