Prisons dept gets notice in Jaishankar suicide case  

BENGALURU: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to Prisons Department about the alleged suicide case of Jaishankar, who is a convict in rape and murder case. According to NHRC, a suo moto case has been taken up following media reports about Jaishankar, who committed suicide inside the Bengaluru Central Prison by slitting his throat on February 27. Jaishankar alias Psycho Shankar was accused in 15 cases of rape and murder, out of which he had been convicted in three. He was confined to an isolated cell, as he was a threat to other inmates.

The statement of NHRC said, “The Commission has issued a notice to the IG (Prisons), Karnataka, calling for a detailed report of the matter within six weeks. It has observed that the content of the news report, if true, amounts to negligence of 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.”

In the notice, the Commission said, “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.”

His wife Parameshwari has also alleged that there was foul play. “I do not believe that my husband Jaishankar committed suicide... He had no strong reason to do so as claimed by jail officers. I suspect foul play behind his death and police have to investigate the case to ascertain the exact cause of death,” she said.