Who was Ram Singh?

NEW DELHI: In a sensational twist in the gruesome Delhi gang-rape-cum-murder case, one of the accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in a high-security cell in Tihar Jail early on Monday morning, raising questions over monitoring of undertrials.

Significantly 33-year-old Ram Singh, who has a slight deformity in his right hand after an accident, hanged himself from the grill of his cell in jail No. 3 using his clothes, jail officials said.

Here are some details about Ram Singh's background and his role in the Delhi gang-rape case:

*Ram Singh, who was arrested a day after the incident, was the driver of the bus in which the girl was raped. His brother Mukesh was driving the bus when the girl was sexually assaulted allegedly by them.

* Ram Singh had been charged in 13 cases in connection with the December 16 incident, and had been facing day-to-day trial in a fast-track court.

*The others accused in the case, Pawan, 19, and Akshay, 29, are held in Jail No. 4, Vinay, 20, and Mukesh, 26, are in jail No. 7.

*The sixth accused is a juvenile, lodged separately.

* Prone to violent behaviour and mood swings, Ram Singh had suicidal tendencies and was under "suicide watch". All five adults accused in the heinous gang-rape case were under suicide watch since January after they stopped interacting with other jail inmates and even between themselves.

*Ram Singh was supposed to be taken to the court Monday too.

*Police said Ram Singh had already confessed to the crime.

* The family of Ram Singh today claimed that he was murdered and demanded a CBI probe into the incident

*"He has not committed suicide. He has been murdered and then hanged. I am saying this on the basis of the fact that evidence has been erased. He could not move his hand as it was fractured," Ram Singh's father claimed.

*Ram Singh's father said there should be a CBI inquiry into the incident. "I am also demanding that the post mortem be held in front of me," he said.