Post-mortem on Ram Singh, main accused in the December 16, 2012 gang rape case, who was found hanging in his cell at the Tihar Central Jail here on Monday, has not revealed any external injuries. A three-member panel of senior doctors, which conducted the examination at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences on Tuesday, has in its preliminary report said the death was caused by hanging.
Physical assault was ruled out, said a senior AIIMS official.
However, family members, who were at the Institute to claim the body, reiterated that Singh had been murdered. They alleged that they had seen injury marks on the body and finger marks on the throat. “He could not have committed suicide. My son was tortured and sodomised inside the jail,” said his father Mangelal.
In the afternoon, the body was taken to Singh’s native place in Rajasthan for cremation.
Meanwhile, A.P. Singh — counsel for two other accused Akshay Thakur and Vinay Sharma — said they told him that after the death of Ram Singh, they were shifted out of their cells and lodged in the “Mulaija” unit, where inmates are kept on being brought to the jail for the first time. The four undertrials in the gang rape case are now under constant watch by jail officials. (The sixth accused has been declared a juvenile and is in a remand home.)
Defence counsel said Vinay did not face any problems in the barrack where had been lodged. But Akshay had pleaded to him: “Shoot me, but do not send me to Tihar.”
The post-mortem report is expected to reach the court on Thursday. A preliminary report was submitted by Tihar Jail authorities before the Saket fast track court on Tuesday.
A judicial inquiry by a metropolitan magistrate into the death of the 34-year-old undertrial is under way and statements of the jail staff and inmates are being recorded. Jail authorities have also initiated an internal probe into the incident.
To improve surveillance on the inmates, jail authorities will initiate major changes, including installation of closed-circuit television cameras.
The police are awaiting the judicial inquiry report to plan the further course of action. There was no information suggesting a threat to the gang rape accused inside the jail, police sources said, adding, however, they received a tip-off that they could be targeted while being produced in court.
Published - March 13, 2013 02:43 am IST
