Man accused in Delhi rape case commits suicide

NEW DELHI - The man accused in the horrific gangrape of a 23-year-old medical student in the Indian capital last year, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide Monday by hanging himself inside his cell at the high security Tihar jail Monday, a senior police official said.

"Singh hang himself with his clothes inside his solitary cell at jail number three of the Tihar prison at 5 am. His body was discovered by a prison guard while on rounds. His dead body has been sent for post mortem. We have started a probe into his death and a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Singh and five of his accomplices had allegedly gangraped the Delhi University student on a moving bus which she and her boyfriend boarded after watching a movie at a multiplex in the national capital in December last year. The victim later succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Singapore, where she was flown to after her condition worsened at a government hospital in the Indian capital.

Five of the six accused are currently on trial in the case being conducted in a fast track court, facing rape and murder charges which carry a maximum of death penalty. The sixth accused is a minor, below 18 years of age, and faces a maximum of three years in a reform facility.

The case had sparked massive public outrage over the rising incidents of sexual assaults on women in this country, forcing the government to consider new steps for the safety of females.