Now woman undertrial found hanging in Tihar

Three days after the main accused in the Delhi gangrape case hanged himself in his Tihar cell, a woman inmate too was found hanging in her cell in a separate jail of the prison complex. Jail officials called it suicide and said she was depressed because she could not arrange for surety to get bail in the case.

Thirty-year-old Reshma, an undertrial in a 2011 kidnapping case, was found hanging in her 15x10 feet cell in Jail No. 6, the women's jail, on Thursday afternoon. Jail officials said she used her dupatta for a noose, fastened it to a ventilator and hanged herself.

"A matron on a round spotted her hanging from the ventilator of her cell around 3 pm. She was alone in the cell in the afternoon. Her two cell mates were out at work in the prison," Tihar spokesperson Sunil Gupta said.

The matron raised the alarm and Reshma was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where doctors declared her "dead on arrival". The post-mortem report is awaited.

Gupta said an inquiry had been ordered into the death. If lapses are found, responsibility would be fixed, he said.

This is the fourth suicide in Tihar in a little over a year.

A jail official said the ventilator in Reshma's cell was not at a great height and she did not need any prop to reach it. The official said Ram Singh, main accused in the December 16 gangrape case, stood on an overturned bucket to reach the skylight grille from where he hanged himself.

Reshma did not leave any suicide note but she was said to be depressed because she was unable to arrange surety for bail. An official claimed she had a history of suicide attempts in the jail, and had been under medication.

Asked about this, Gupta said these questions would be taken up by the committee that will inquire into the death.

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