Ram Kumar allegedly murdered a techie in June at Nungambakkam Railway Station in Chennai
Highlights
- He bit on a live electric wire in the jail, where he was lodged and died
- He has attempted suicide earlier too by slashing his neck
- The man is accused of murdering a 24-year-old IT professional in Chennai
The man accused of murdering 24-year-old Swathi, an IT professional from Chennai, has committed suicide in jail.
Around 4.30 this afternoon, P Ram Kumar, 24, sources said, had bitten on a live electric wire in Puzhal Central Prison, where he was lodged. He was taken immediately to a hospital, but doctors declared him dead on arrival, said a police officer investigating the case.
It is not known exactly where the alleged suicide took place. It is also not known why the officials chose to take him to a hospital more than an hour away from the jail. Officials at the jail are not available for comment. The postmortem is likely to be performed tomorrow and the report will give police more clarity.
Ram Kumar's lawyer SP Ramaraj, however, alleged foul play. "It's a murder in jail. Nowhere in a jail would there be a power supply strong enough to kill a person. We would ask for an open postmortem," said the lawyer claiming Ram Kumat did not show any suicidal tendency when he met him yesterday in the jail.
Ram Kumar, who had allegedly hacked Swathi to death at the Nungambakkam Railway Station in June, had attempted suicide earlier too.
On July 3, as the police were about to arrest him, he slashed his neck. He had been in hospital in Tirunelveli for a while, undergoing treatment.
An engineering graduate, Ram Kumar had allegedly killed Swathi after she rejected his advances. The police zeroed on him from the CCTV images retrieved from apartments close to the railway station.