Nirbhaya case convict tries to commit suicide
Vinay Sharma, one of the four convicts in the December 16, 2012, Nirbhaya gangrape case, is being treated at a city hospital after he tried to commit suicide by hanging himself inside his cell in Tihar Jail, an official said on Thursday.
Sharma, the driver of the bus in which the gang-rape took place, was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital after he consumed pills and tried to hang himself from the ventilator of his cell by using a towel on Wednesday night.
The attempted suicide was thwarted by the Tamil Nadu Police security personnel when they saw him trying to hang himself in his cell around 9.30 p.m. He was immediately taken to DDU hospital. Sharma is lodged in a high-security cell.
Sharma's lawyer Singh, however, claimed that it was not a suicide attempt but attempt to murder. "A few days ago, when I met him in jail he complained about torture inside the jail premises," Singh told IANS.
Sharma had in 2013 demanded extra security in jail, claiming that he was being beaten up by other inmates and police officials. Sharma, Mukesh, Pawan, Akshay Thakur and Ram Singh, along with a juvenile, were accused of gang-raping and brutally assaulting a 23year-old paramedical student inside a private bus.
Sharma is the second Nirbhaya gang-rape accused to attempt suicide. In 2013, Ram Singh, the prime accused in the case, was found dead in the Tihar Jail.
Hours after the suicide attempt, the parents of the 23year-old victim said they wanted to see "all of the convicts dead so that they could take a sigh of relief".
Sharma has now been kept under round-the-clock observation for 24 hours at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital here. "He has been found to be fit and fine in the medical examinations but doctors have kept him under observation for next 24 hours to watch his activities as a precautionary measure," said Pushpendra Kumar, DCP (west).