CHENNAI: Four years after the sensational Swathi murder case, the Tamil Nadu Human Rights Commission on Friday issued summons to police and Puzhal Central Prison officials over the alleged suicide of the accused in the case, P Ramkumar. According to police, Ramkumar killed himself in prison days after his arrest in 2016.
The commission in its order on Friday stated that it has taken suo motu cognizance based on a newspaper report that appeared on September 19, 2016 on the alleged suicide of Ramkumar.
S Swathi, 24, working with IT major Infosys, was hacked to death on the morning of June 24, 2016 at the Nungambakkam railway station in broad daylight. The incident created shock waves across the country. Amidst much public outrage, police arrested Ramkumar, a youth from southern Tirunelveli.
Ramkumar, who police said had made a suicide attempt by slitting his throat at the time of his arrest, allegedly killed himself in the prison on September 18, 2016. Ramkumar is said to have pulled out a live cable from a switchboard in the dispensary block of the prison. No one was present in the cell when the alleged suicide took place.
According to sources in the human rights commission, the summons are being issued through the ADGP (Prisons) Egmore based on an enquiry by the SHRC investigation wing.
Senthamaraikannan, Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Puzhal, Udhayakumar, Deputy Jailor, Pitchandi, Assistant Jailor, Sankarraj, Chief Warder, Ramraj, Grade I Warder and Petchimuthu, Grade I Warder, have been asked to appear before the commission on September 30.