TNN | Mar 11, 2013,

Delhi gang-rape accused Ram Singh's death a security lapse: Shinde

Delhi gang-rape accused Ram Singh’s death a security lapse: Shinde
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday said that rape accused Ram Singh’s death under mysterious circumstances was a major security lapse but he refused to reveal further details as a magisterial probe is underway.”It is a major lapse in security, certainly it is not a small incident. Action will be taken,” home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told a press conference in the capital.

“I cannot come to the conclusion at this moment whether it is a suicide or not before inquiry, he said.

Earlier in the day, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit also met home minister Sushilkumar Shinde to discuss the incident.

Ram Singh, main accused in the horrific gang-rape case of 23-year-old physiotherapy student on December 16, 2012 which caused massive nationwide outrage, allegedly committed suicide in a high-security cell in Tihar Jail early on Monday morning, raising questions over monitoring of undertrials.

Significantly 33-year-old Ram Singh, who had a slight deformity in his right hand after an accident, hanged himself from the grill of his cell in jail No.3 using his clothes, jail officials said.

“Singh was not alone in the cell when he committed suicide. Other inmates were present and a guard was also posted. But nobody came to know about it. Around 5am, he was found hanging,” a senior jail official said.

Prone to violent behaviour and mood swings, he had suicidal tendencies and was under “suicide watch,” he said.

Singh, who was to be produced before court for its daily hearing, was rushed to the jail hospital where he was declared brought dead. His body was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for post mortem.

The news of his death immediately triggered demands from his lawyers and family for a CBI probe. They alleged that he was murdered inside the jail and refused to believe that he could have committed suicide.

“There were no circumstances which could have led to Ram Singh committing suicide. There was no mental stress. He was very happy,” his lawyer VK Anand said. Lawyers for the defendants had previously accused police of beating confessions out of the men.