Four years after the accused in the 2016 Swathi murder case, Ramkumar, died allegedly by suicide in Puzhal prison, the State Human Rights Commission of Tamil Nadu has directed six prison department officials to appear before them on Sept 30 for an iqnquiry into his death.
Ramkumar allegedly took his life in Puzhal prison on September 18, 2016.
The six prison department officers have been summoned to appear for the inquiry on September 30, 2020, at 10.30 am.
The SHRC has instructed Superintendent of Prison Senthamaraikannan, Deputy Jailor Udhayakumar, Assistant Jailor Pitchandi, Chief Warden Sankarraj, Warden Ramraj and Warden Petchimuthu to appear before them as they were reportedly present at the time.
24-year-old Swathi, an Infosys employee, was murdered in broad daylight in Nungambakkam railway station on June 24, 2016. She was hacked to death with a sickle and the police recovered the sickle from the track near the murder spot.
The police immediately to zero in on the accused and with the preliminary investigation, the police released the CCTV footage of a man with a blue shirt as the accused in the case. The police identified the man as Ramkumar, who lived in AS Mansion in Chennai's Choolaimedu less than a kilometre from Swathi's residence.
The police said that the accused Ramkumar allegedly stalked Swathi and murdered her as she turned down his proposal.
The police arrested him on July 1, 2016, from his home in Meenakshipuram in Tirunelveli. He also allegedly tried to take his own life during the arrest.
However, Ramkumar’s mother Pushpam said that her son was innocent and he had no role in the crime.
On September 18, 2016, while he was in judicial custody, the warden saw the lifeless body of Ramkumar with a live wire in his mouth.
Several leaders including DMK president Stalin and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan raised suspicions in the suicide of Ramkumar. At the time, Stalin had requested for a judicial enquiry into the death of Ramkumar. VCK leader Thol Thirumavalan said that the denial to accept the request of Ramkumar’s father to conduct an autopsy with their doctors shows that Tamil Nadu is trying to hide something.