The main accused in the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi last December hanged himself in jail Monday while in solitary confinement, prompting outrage from the victim's family.

Ram Singh, one of six people on trial over the shocking attack, was found dead shortly before dawn after making a noose out of his clothing, according to officials at Delhi's top-security Tihar jail.

"He tied all his clothes together and used the ceiling grill and a wooden stool to hang himself," the prison's law officer Sunil Gupta told AFP by phone.

A judicial magistrate has begun an investigation into the suicide which will probe any security lapses, Gupta added.

But the father of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim told AFP it was clear that authorities had been negligent and that the family had been denied justice.

"We don't understand how could the police fail to protect Ram Singh. They knew he was the prime accused in my daughter's case," said the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

"How could they let him choose the way he wanted to die? The police have failed and I wonder what will happen to the case now."

The victim's mother said she was shocked to hear of the suicide.

"I just wanted justice for my daughter. The main accused is dead. Maybe the guilt killed him?" she told AFP.

Singh was making regular appearances in a New Delhi court where he faced murder, rape and kidnapping charges over the crime which ignited street protests and soul-searching about endemic sex crime in India.

Four other men charged over the gang-rape face the death sentence if convicted in a special fast-track court, whose proceedings are subject to a media gagging order. They have all pleaded not guilty.

A sixth 17-year-old suspect is being tried in a juveniles' court where he faces a maximum three years imprisonment.

The victim, who was studying physiotherapy, died on December 29 at a hospital in Singapore, 13 days after the attack.

As well as being repeatedly raped, she was also violated with a metal bar, leaving her with massive internal injuries.

Singh, a widower whose brother Mukesh is also an accused, was the regular driver of the white private bus alleged to have been used for the December 16 crime, which was normally used to ferry school children.

Police say Singh and friends had enjoyed a meal together and had been drinking heavily before deciding to take the bus out for a night-time joyride, picking up passengers who mistook the vehicle for genuine public transport.

Another senior police officer investigating the case, who asked not to be named, insisted that the suicide would not impact on the ongoing trial.

"The (court) case will continue. There is no reason for the case to suffer," said the officer who also confirmed that Singh killed himself at 5:15 am.

Another police officer deployed at Tihar Jail said Singh's body had been taken to the government-run Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital and his brother Mukesh had been informed.

"We tried to save him and even employed revival techniques but failed," he told AFP.

Singh, originally from western Rajasthan state, lived in a New Delhi slum called Ravi Dass colony where neighbours described him and his brother as rowdy and heavy drinkers.

"They were always drinking, abusing and getting into fights with us," one neighbour, who works as a domestic servant, told AFP. (AFP)

<관련 한글 기사>

‘집단 성폭행 사건’ 주범 감옥에서 자살

인도 뉴델리의 버스에서 발생한 여대생 집단 성폭행 사건의 피고인 한 명이 11일 수감 중이던 구치소 독방에서 자살했다.

피고인 람 싱은 이날 오전 5시께 뉴델리 인근 티하르 구치소 독방에서 천장  창 살에 옷가지로 목을 매 숨진 채 발견됐다고 수닐 굽타 구치소 대변인이 밝혔다.

싱의 시신은 순찰 중이던 교도관이 발견한 것으로 전해졌다.

싱은 지난해 12월 귀가 차 자신의 버스에 탄 23세 여대생을 공범 5명과 함께 집 단 성폭행하고 쇠막대로 내상을 입혀 결국 숨지게 한 혐의로 기소됐다. 

싱을 포함한 성인 피고인 5명은 뉴델리의 '신속처리'(fast-track) 법원에서  재 판을 받고 있다. 이들은 최고 사형 선고를 받을 수 있다.

경찰에 따르면 싱은 친구 등인 공범들과 함께 술을 마신 뒤 버스를 몰고 나가 범행을 저지른 것으로 전해졌다.

30대로 알려진 그는 서부 라자스탄주(州) 출신으로 뉴델리의 한 슬럼가에 살고 있다. 그의 동생 무케시도 공범으로 기소됐다. 피고인들은 모두 혐의를 부인해왔다.

싱의 변호인은 그가 수감 이후 심한 감정 기복과 불안 증세를 보였다고 최근 인터뷰에서 말한 바 있다. 

 한 경찰 고위 관계자는 "재판이 (이번 사건에) 영향을 받을 이유가 없다"고  강 조했다.

그러나 당국은 싱이 사건의 주범에 해당하는데도 관리를 소홀히 했다는 비판을 면하기 어렵게 됐다.

굽타 대변인은 치안판사가 관리 부실 여부에 대한 조사에 착수했다고 밝혔다.