Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro found hanging in prison cell
மூன்று பெண்களைக் கடத்தி வந்து கிட்டத்தட்ட பத்தாண்டுகளாக பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த குற்றத்திற்காக 1000 ஆண்டுகள் சிறைத்தண்டனைப் பெற்ற ஏரியல் காஸ்ட்ரோ என்ற கைதி சிறையில் தூக்கிட்டுத் தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டான். அமெரிக்கா, ஓஹையோ மாநிலத்தில் வாழ்ந்து வந்த ஏரியல் காஸ்ட்ரோ (53) என்ற ஆசாமி, கடந்த 2002ஆம் ஆண்டு முதல் 2004ஆம் ஆண்டிற்குள் மிச்சேல் நைட் (20), அமெண்டா பெர்ரி (17), கினா டிஜெசஸ் (14) என்ற மூன்று பெண்களை கடத்திச் சென்று வீட்டுச்சிறையில் வைத்து பாலியல் ரீதியாக துன்புறுத்தி வந்துள்ளான். பத்தாண்டுகளுக்கும் மேலாக ஏரியலின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் சிறை பட்டுக்கிடந்த அவர்களில் ஒரு பெண், கடந்த மே மாதம் அங்கிருந்து தப்பினார். அவரது வாக்குமூலத்தின் அடிப்படையில் ஏரியல் கைது செய்யப்பட்டான். பின்னர், வீட்டில் அடைப்பட்டுக் கிடந்த மற்ற இரு பெண்களையும், பெர்ரிக்குப் பிறந்த ஆறு வயது சிறுமியையும் போலீசார் விடுவித்தனர். தீவிர விசாரணைக்குப் பிறகு, ஏரியலுக்கு ஆயிரம் ஆண்டுகள் சிறைத்தண்டனை விதிக்கப்பட்டது. தனது தண்டனை விவரத்தைக் கேட்டதிலிருந்து மிகவும் மனமுடைந்து, விரக்தியான மனநிலையிலேயே ஏரியல் இருந்ததாகச் சந்தேகம் கொண்ட போலீசார், அவனைத் தீவிரமாக கண்காணித்து வந்தனர். ஆனபோதும், சிறை காவலர்களின் கண்காணிப்பையும் மீறி அறைக்குள் தூக்கு மாட்டிக்கொண்டு ஏரியல் காஸ்ட்ரோ தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டான்.
Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro found hanging in prison cell
The man who held three women captive in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade before one escaped and alerted authorities has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said. Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9.20 pm on Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early on Wednesday. Prison medical staff performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 10.50 pm. He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch, Smith said. She said suicide watch entails constant observation. Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk. Castro’s attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early on Wednesday. Schlachet said he could not immediately comment further. In an interview last month after Castro’s conviction, Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators. The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. They escaped from Castro’s Cleveland home on 6 May, when Amanda Berry, one of the women, broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help. “Help me,” she said in an emergency call to police. “I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years and I’m, I’m here, I’m free now.” The two other women were so scared of Castro that they held back initially even as police officers began to swarm the house. But quickly they realised they were free. “You saved us! You saved us!” another of the captives, Michelle Knight, told an officer as she leaped into his arms. Castro was arrested that evening. He had also fathered a child with Berry while she was in captivity; the girl was six years old when freed. A judge rejected Castro’s request to have visiting rights with his daughter. Elation over the women’s rescue soon turned to shock as details emerged about conditions of their captivity. Investigators say they were bound with chains, repeatedly raped and deprived of food and bathroom facilities. Knight told investigators she was beaten and starved several times to force her to miscarry. Messages left for the women’s lawyers were not immediately returned early on Wednesday. Castro was sentenced on 1 August to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape. In a rambling statement, he told the judge he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction. “I’m not a monster. I’m sick,” Castro said at his sentencing. Knight was the only one of the three who appeared in court at his sentencing. “You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back,” she said in the hushed courtroom. “I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning.” This is the second high-profile suicide in an Ohio prison in a month. On 4 August, death row inmate Billy Slagle was found hanged in his cell just days before his scheduled execution. He was condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor.