In a dramatic twist in the December 16 gang-rape case, Ram Singh, the gang leader, allegedly committed suicide in a high-security cell in Tihar Jail.
The 33-year-old rapist committed suicide by hanging himself from the grill of his 18x12 cell in jail No- 3 of Tihar jail on Monday morning..
Singh, who was being tried for the bestial rape of the 23-year-old paramedic student was alert and awake till a few minutes before 5 am.
In fact, he ate a hearty dinner on Sunday night and was seen talking animatedly to his three cellmates till 2.30 am.
He had discussed his production before the Special Magistrate at Saket Courts with them and did not display any signs of remorse.
However, towards morning, Singh managed to dodge all eyes, including the guard posted to keep a "suicide watch" on him, and used his shirt and mat to hang himself.
He was noticed hanging from the grill of his cell at around 5 am by the jail warden who was on his morning rounds.
Ram Singh was rushed to the jail hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His body was then shifted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for post-mortem examination.
However, later in the evening it was shifted to AIIMS where a post-mortem examination by a panel of experts will be conducted on Tuesday. The whole process will be video graphed.
On hearing the news the gang-rape victim's family expressed shock and surprise.
The family said they were hoping for the accused to be hanged and did not feel any pity at the way he met his end.
"We wanted justice to prevail. However, we did not expect him to die this way. We are waiting for the four others to be hanged," said Gaurav Pandey, the victim's brother. He said the entire family is waiting for the trial to finish at the earliest. On Monday evening, the Director-General (DG) of Delhi Prisons, Vimla Mehra, submitted an exhaustive report on the incident to the Ministry of Home Affairs on its orders.
Mehra later told reporters: "It would be inappropriate to comment on the issue as a magisterial inquiry is already on. All facts will be looked into by the Metropolitan Magistrate."
Asked by when the report was likely to be finalized, Mehra said she couldn't tell as the magistrate was the one assigned the job.
"I don't want to disclose anything more since the matter is sub-judice," she concluded.
Forensic experts from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) visited Tihar Jail to examine the crime scene.
In the wake of Singh's suicide, the security of the four other adult accused in the case has been stepped up as they were also under suicide watch.
There was an internal alert that Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur, could take the extreme step.
The alert was sounded in early January after they stopped interacting with other inmates.
Singh's suicide has raised questions about the role of Tihar authorities whose job was to ensure his safety.
Yet, the Tihar administration did little to secure the inmates as a solitary guard was stationed to keep tabs on inmates housed in 20 cells.
An official at Tihar Jail said that the security guard is supposed to take rounds of the cells and one round takes him 20 minutes or so.
According to the statement of the guard, he had seen Singh alive a few minutes before 5 am.
Singh was not alone in the cell when he committed suicide. There were two murder accused and a dacoit in his cell.
However, they were sound asleep and none of them heard or saw Singh hanging himself.
RPN Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs, said: "An inquiry has already been ordered by Tihar Jail on the suicide of the main accused. We are enquiring into the matter."
Meanwhile, preliminary investigations have revealed that Singh was prone to violent behaviour and mood swings. He had been depressed for the past few days.
However, Tihar authorities erred in assessing his mental state and the "suicide watch alert" was slackened after jail officials noticed that Singh and his cohorts in the gang-rape were behaving normally and were not showing any signs of depression.
The official however, refused to reveal when the alert was lifted.
It may be recalled that Singh, a native of Rajasthan who lived in the slums of RK Puram Sector-3 was driving the bus in which the gang-rape took place.
The hapless girl was subjected to the most brutal rape ever reported in the history of the National Capital. She was raped repeatedly by all the six accused, including a juvenile and then thrown out of the bus bleeding and naked, in Mahipalpur area.
She later died in a Singapore hospital as a result of the horrendous injuries inflicted on her during the barbaric gang-rape.