The owner and editor of a Kannada local tabloid, who was under judicial custody at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on charges of sexual harassment, committed suicide on Tuesday, October 15.
The 56-year-old Anil Raj, who was the owner and publisher of 'Voice of Yelahanka', hanged himself from the ceiling of a temple inside the prison at around 7.30 pm.
According to reports, Raj was lodged in barrack number five of the prison. When the inmates were called in for attendance, he was not present. Some prisoners claimed that they had seen him sitting inside the temple at around 5 pm.
Upon search of the prison compound, the jail officials found his body hanging inside the temple. As the body was still warm, he was quickly rushed to Victoria Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Prison officials said Raj's wife and daughter had met him at the visitors' gallery and he appeared depressed. Raj discussed his bail application with his daughter, a law student, and asked her to process it fast. "We suspect he might have felt depressed and took the extreme step for not getting bail," an official was quoted as saying in Deccan Herald.
An enquiry has been ordered into the incident and the police are investigating the case. Raj was sentenced for a year of imprisonment in 2017 after he was accused of sexual harassment by a woman employee of his tabloid.
He was also booked for breach of privilege after MLA SR Vishwanath complained against him for writing articles accusing him of corruption.
