Delhi rape accused found dead in prison

A suspect in the abduction, rape and murder of a student in the Indian capital, Delhi, has been found dead in prison, his lawyer has confirmed.

Senior police officers told reporters that Ram Singh had hanged himself in Tihar jail, Delhi.

Ram Singh was one of five men being held in the case. They all deny the charges.
The brutal attack on the student in December outraged India and triggered a debate about the treatment of women.
A sixth suspect is being tried by a juvenile court.
Ram Singh and the four other adult defendants - his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - have been on trial in a fast-track court.
They face 13 charges, including murder, gang-rape, kidnapping and destruction of evidence. If found guilty they face the death sentence.

The maximum sentence the juvenile would face if convicted would be three years in a reform facility.

The 23-year-old rape victim, who was not named for legal reasons, was with a male friend when she was attacked on a bus and thrown from the vehicle.

She died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December from massive internal injuries.

The 55-year-old jail houses more than 12,000 inmates although it has an official capacity of about 6,000.
The complex includes nine separate prison facilities.

Media reports quoting the chief of Tihar prison Vimla Mehra say there were 18 deaths in Tihar prison last year, of which two were cases of suicide.

BBC NEWS