Tihar jail authorities killed undertrial prisoner, alleges victim's lawyer

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A 21-year-old undertrial prisoner was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Tihar Jail, police said on Saturday. Police said that they were informed about the incident around 1 pm.

He was an accused in a minor's rape case in outer Delhi's Ranhola area and was lodged in jail number 5 since 2015, they said.

An official from the jail said that the inmate had allegedly banged his head against the wall and killed himself.

However, the victim's lawyer claimed that he was killed by a jail employee.

"Why would anyone kill oneself by banging their head against the wall? He was being tortured by a jail employee and had told us about it. The jail employee, on earlier occasions, had also thrashed my client and flaunted about it in front of the inmates," AP Singh, the victim's lawyer, told PTI.

Singh said that the inmate's case was coming up for hearing on July 11.

He also claimed that the family was not informed about his death by the jail authorities and they came to know about the death through some acquaintances around 3 pm on Saturday.

Police said a magisterial inquiry would be conducted in the matter.

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