Seven weeks after a 25-year-old inmate allegedly hanged himself in the Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai, P. Ramkumar, the sole accused in the murder of Infosys techie Swathi, also allegedly committed suicide in the same prison by “pulling and biting into a live electric wire”.

The Puzhal prison complex was inaugurated in 2006 by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, with the promise of making it a model for reform. It has become notorious, however, for being a den of drugs and a place where mobile phones are frequently seized. More