'Psycho Shankar', Charged With 30 Murders and 15 Rapes, Commits Suicide in Bengaluru Central Jail
Shankar was reportedly in depression after his last bid to escape the jail left him unmovable.
New Delhi, Feb 28: Rape and murder convict Jaishankar alias M Shankar, also referred to as 'Psycho Shankar', committed suicide in Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara prison. The jail authorities were first informed about his suicide in the wee hours of Tuesday. On being rushed to the hospital, Shankar was declared dead due to excessive bleeding, caused after he slit his throat with a shaving blade.
Shankar, 41, hailed from Salem district's Kanniampatty village. His first crime was recorded in 2008, when he was booked by the Sankari police on charges of rape and murder. However, he succeeded in breaking away from the prison.
Shankar was later nabbed in 2009 by the Tirupur police on charges of raping and murdering a female police constable in Perumanallur, where she was posted on bandobast duty.
After being lodged in Coimbatore jail till March 2011, Shankar succeeded in escaping the prison again.
Before being apprehended again in May 2011, Shankar raped and murdered six women, apart from killing one man and a child. The crime spree unleashed by him in the two-year period earned him the tag of 'Psycho Shankar' -- based on which a Kannada movie was made.
Since May 2011, he was kept in the Bengaluru central jail, considering the bleak prospects of escaping from the highly-guarded prison. In the time period, he was convicted in three cases of rape, kidnapping and murder. He was sentenced to 32 years of imprisonment for the convictions so far.
In September 2013, Shankar attempted to escape the Bengaluru jail after scaling the 30-feet high outerwall. Although, he succeeded in jumping out, the escape bid left him severely injured with multiple fractures in both legs. Six days later, he was found and arrested from a hut near the jail premises.
According to prison inmates, Shankar was depressed after his last attempt to escape from jail turned unsuccessful. As he was left in an immovable state due to the leg fractures, Shankar felt he would remain in the jail forever, the prison colleagues of the psycho criminal were reported as saying.
Although an inquiry would be conducted into Shankar's suicide, preliminary probe revealed that the deceased stole a broken blade from the barber and kept it with him to commit suicide.
Shankar is survived by an elder brother who resides with him family in Haryana. Shankar, a Class 12 dropout, worked as a truck driver along with brother, before being first jailed in 2008.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2018 03:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).