Chennai: P. Ramkumar, the arrested suspect in the Infosys techie Swathi murder case, is "fast recovering" and is able to talk, according to Dr Narayana Babu, dean in-charge of the Government Royapettah hospital (GRH), where the 24-year-old was admitted in the early hours of Monday following a failed suicide bid at his native village in Tirunelveli district after being cornered by the police.
Ramkumar was brought by ambulance with police escort and admitted in the GRH at about 4.40 in the morning and admitted in room number eight in the intensive critical care unit (ICCU) in the convicts' block. A special team of doctors, which includes an ENT specialist, is treating him. He reportedly cooperated well when the metropolitan magistrate S. Gopinathan arrived by his bedside to record his statement at 11.30 a.m.
Dean Babu's declaration would mean that the police could soon move the court for his custodial questioning. Ramkumar had reportedly told the police in Tirunelveli hospital on Sunday that he had killed Swathi as she had insulted his looks in public when he proposed to her. Police had initially arranged for first-aid at Tenkasi and taken him to Palayamkottai for admission in the Tirunelveli GH for attending on the wounds caused when he slashed his neck with a blade in a suicide bid on being cornered by the cops on Friday night. Surgeons at Tirunelveli had sutured his wounds and got him ready for the long haul to Chennai for further medico-legal procedures.
Dean Dr Narayana Babu told reporters at the GRH that Ramkumar had regained consciousness and was able to talk. There was "tremendous improvement" but questioning by the police would take some more time. "The wound is healing and he is fast recovering. He is fully conscious and has started talking. He is able to walk.He had idli and iddyappam", he said, and added that the wound on the neck was 17 cm long, 2.5 cm deep and needed 18 stitches. Ramkumar's family consisting of his parents and two younger sisters did not accompany him to Chennai.
