NHRC notice to the IG (Prisons), Karnataka for violating the guidelines by not reporting the suicide by a convict in the Bengaluru Central Prison to it within 24 hours (09.03.2018)

PRESS RELEASE

New Delhi, 9th March, 2018
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 the 27th February, 2018. He was accused in 15 cases of rape and murder, out 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.


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 for not adhering to this guideline.


Reportedly, the inquiries have 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 the year 2013 by scaling the jail boundary wall, but he was again arrested by the police. Since then, he was being kept in a separate cell.

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