Murder convict commits suicide in Chandrapur District Jail

Chandrapur, Jun 12: A

, serving life imprisonment at Chandrapur District Jail, today allegedly committed

by hanging himself, police said. According to police officials, the deceased, Mukesh Rajak, a native of Murala district in Madha Pradesh, who worked as a contract labourer at a private power plant in the district, was recently convicted by a local court for allegedly murdering his wife.

His wife's body was recovered by the police on August 24, 2012, under suspicious circumstances and he was booked under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code by the police. After finding him guilty of murdering his wife, the local court convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment on June 7, 2014.

Accordingly, he was sent to Chandrapur District Jail on the same day. Rajak was reportedly engaged by the jail authorities to serve food to its staff during lunch time this afternoon. Taking advantage of being alone in the staff room, he reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself to a ceiling fan with a long scarf.

After discovering his body, the staffers reported the matter to the jailer, who in turn, informed the local sub-divisional magistrate, and other police officials. Tehsildar Ganesh Shinde, sub-divisional police officer Raju Bhujbal and others visited the spot to take stock of the situation. Bhujbal said that Rajak's body was sent to the Nagpur Government Hospital for an autopsy.

PTI