DHARWAD: An undertrial allegedly committed suicide in the Dharwad central jail on Friday. Abdul Kalam Shaik (45) was found hanging from his lungi inside his cell in the morning.
The police personnel, who saw him struggling, shifted him immediately to the district hospital, where he was declared dead upon arrival. The deceased was supposed to attend the court proceedings on Friday morning.
“The deceased was a resident of Ganeshpeth in Hubballi and he was anxious about court proceedings. It is possible that he could have taken the extreme step over the same issue. No suicide note has been found,” said Jail Superintendent P S Ramesh.
The officer added that the deceased was facing charges under the POCSO Act for kidnapping and molesting a minor girl and was housed in Dharwad Central Jail from last nine months. “In 2016, the man was arrested by Hubballi police in West Bengal,” he said.
Not the first time
The Dharwad Central Jail has witnessed three suicides in the last one year. On January 28, 2016, a woman facing charges of kidnapping a newborn had ended her life.
Another under-trial prisoner committed suicide when he was taken to a hospital. The deceased was said to be mentally-ill and was taken to the Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences where he committed suicide by hanging in the toilet.
‘Poor security led to suicide’
Relatives of Abdul Kalam Shaik expressed concerns over the apathy of jail staff, on Friday. They alleged that the police, who called them in the morning, told them that Abdul was in ICU. A few minutes later, they were told that Abdul died of cardiac arrest. “Hence, it is difficult for us to believe the police’s version,” they said.
Lilabibi Shaik, wife of the deceased, said: “He (Shaik) spoke to me for nearly half-and-an-hour on the previous night and sounded positive. We are in a confused state and need an answer.”
Jammer for namesake
Every now and then, the Central jail is in news. Most of the time, it is due to the internal conflicts of the prisoners or some untoward incidents like suicides. It is said that many of the prisoners keep contact with outside world through mobile phones.
According to jail sources, staff crunch is affecting round-the-clock monitoring of cells and prisoners.