Chennai, Oct 31 (IANS): Father of P. Ramkumar -- an accused in the Swathi murder case who died in prison -- will get an amount of Rs 10 lakh as compensation.
The Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Monday recommended the state government to grant the compensation amount to R. Paramasivan, the father of deceased Ramkumar within a month.
Swathi, an engineering graduate and an employee with Infosys, was murdered at Nungambakkam railway station on June 24, 2016. Ramkumar was the only accused in the case and he was later arrested from Tirunelveli where he tried to commit suicide by slitting his throat. He was overpowered and arrested and lodged in Puzhal Central prison.
According to Police and jail authorities, Ramkumar, who was also a mechanical engineer by profession, committed suicide by biting a live electric wire. He died on September 18, 2016.
The Human Rights Commission while delivering the order of compensation to Ramkumar's father said that the state government must constitute an independent probe to find out whether Ramkumar committed suicide or whether it was a homicide as alleged by his father Paramasivan.
The Commission in the order said, "Suspicion arises in the minds of this commission whether the prisoner Ramkumar committed suicide by electrocution due to self-inflicted injuries or whether some other person electrocuted the body of the deceased."
It also raised apprehension whether Ramkumar died due to asphyxiation as stated in the final report by Doctor Sudhir Gupta.
The SHRC also said that the prisoner was in the custody and care of the state and that it was the bounden duty of the prison officials to ensure safety and security of the prisoner in their custody and that the state should ensure that he does not cause any harm to himself or anybody else.
The Commission observed," As said earlier, the Government of Tamil Nadu is also responsible for the death of Ramkumar in Puzhal prison and the state is liable to pay compensation to the father of the deceased namely Paramasivan for the suspicious death of his son Ramkumar in Puzhal prison."