In connection with suicide of an inmate Ramesh Singh in the jail on January 15, Haridwar District Magistrate Harish Chandra Semwal has ordered a magisterial inquiry to be headed by Haridwar SDM Veer Singh Godiyal. Two incidents of suicide in two different jails of Uttarakhand in a span of 10 days have exposed jail administration’s lack of alertness. Moreover, State jail administration has no data over how many suicides have occurred in the jails since Uttarakhand came up as a State in 2000.
Semwal said that the death of the inmate being a unnatural one, a magistrate inquiry has been ordered. SDM Godiyal will probe the case from all angles. One can record verbal statement or submit documents as regards this incident within 10 days. Investigation will be done based on available evidences. A magisterial inquiry into this incident is a routine affair with no complaint being received from any person, including deceased’s father, he added.
Sources said that Ramesh Singh aged around 26 years, who committed suicide in Haridwar jail on January 15, had remained depressed after his father had written a letter to him, saying that he is disowning him for the heinous crime he was convicted with. Ramesh was sentenced to life- imprisonment in connection with a murder case along with 10 years’ imprisonment in connection with a rape case by the court. Both the crimes were committed in Almora district. As per the Jail officials, Ramesh was assigned duty of cleaning the hospital located in the jail premises.
As usual, he came at the work place to clean the hospital at 8 am on January 15. Few hours later, when some inmates went to the washroom they found door bolted from inside. After half an hour, they again knocked, but no response came. Then they peeped inside and found Ramesh hanging, tied with a towel.
Ramesh had been transferred from Almora jail to Haridwar jail on November 24, 2013. It should be mentioned here that in Chamoli jail, another inmate, accused of murdering his girl friend after raping her, committed suicide, hanging himself with a towel. His girl friend worked as an engineer in Public Works Department in Uttarakhand. He was arrested last week.