NHRC seeks report from Karnataka Govt on suicide in Bengaluru jail

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi :The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that a 38 year old convict, undergoing imprisonment for 10 years, committed suicide inside the Bengaluru Central Prison by slitting his throat with a shaving blade on February 27, 2018. He was accused in 15 cases of rape and murder of which he had been convicted in 3 cases. He was confined to an isolated cell as he was a threat to the other inmates.
The Commission has issued notice to the IG (Prisons), Karnataka, calling for a detailed report in the matter within six weeks. It has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, amount to the negligence on the part of the jail officials, which is a matter of serious concern, according to an NHRC release.

The Commission has also noted that the State authorities have not informed it within 24 hours of the death in judicial custody as per its guidelines. Therefore, it has also sought an explanation from the IG (Prisons), Karnataka,in this regard.

The inquiries have reportedly revealed that the deceased was also being treated for depression. He was arrested by the police after a massive manhunt in 2009, when he brutally raped and murdered a police constable in Tamil Nadu. He had also escaped from the judicial custody in 2013 by scaling the jail boundary wall but he was again arrested by  police. Since then, he was being kept in a separate cell.