Other accused scared, say they are assaulted in Tihar: Defence lawyer

Hours after Ram Singh, main accused in the December 16 gangrape case, was found hanging in his Tihar cell on Monday, the Saket fast track court where the trial is on asked the jail authorities to submit a report on the death by Tuesday afternoon.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna was informed about the incident via fax by Tihar authorities in the morning, and then a jail official appeared in person before the court.

The media have been barred from reporting proceedings of the trial. Advocate A P Singh, counsel for co-accused Akshay Thakur and Vinay Sharma, said police have been asked to submit daily "health and security reports" on the other accused in the case.

Singh's brother Mukesh and friends Akshay, Vinay and Pawan Kumar were brought to the court under tight security on Monday.

Outside the court, advocate V K Anand, representing Ram Singh and Mukesh, told mediapersons that the four accused have also alleged that they were sexual assaulted inside the jail.

He said the four men were "scared" and did not want to return to Tihar. "They said they would prefer to be shot rather than returned to the harassment and torture in jail," advocate Singh claimed.

Anand maintained that Ram Singh could not have committed suicide. "When I met him on Friday, he was content with the course of the trial. He must have been compelled to take such a step because of the torture and harassment... He didn't take such a step when the trial began and the world was calling him names. Why would he take this step now?" Anand said.

A sixth accused in the case has been declared a juvenile and his case is being heard by the Juvenile Justice Board.

On December 16, a 23-year-old woman was gangraped and tortured, allegedly by the six, on a moving bus and later thrown out with a male friend who was also assaulted. She died in a Singapore hospital thirteen days later.

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