M. Jaishankar

M. Jaishankar (1977 – 27 February 2018), nicknamed Psycho Shankar, was an Indian criminal, sexual predator, and serial killer, notorious for a series of rapes and murders during 2008–2011. At the time of his death, he had been accused of murdering at least 19 women.

Having been apprehended by Indian authorities, Jaishankar was imprisoned in Bangalore, where he was diagnosed as mentally ill. He killed himself following an unsuccessful prison escape attempt in February 2018. In May 2011, he was reported to be a married man with three daughters. He started his career as a truck driver.

Criminal history Jaishankar started his criminal activities around 2008. His first crime to be reported happened on 3 July 2009, when he attempted to rape and murder 45-year-old P. Shyamala in Perandahalli. By August 2009, he had raped and murdered 12 women, and raped another six women. He always carried a black handbag with him. He kept a machete in this bag, and killed whomever resisted him. He used to kidnap sex workers near dhabas (roadside restaurants) on highways, rape them and kill them brutally. He also targeted women in farmhouses, in rural areas. )

The Tiruppur police launched a manhunt for Jaishankar and arrested him on 19 October 2009. He was jailed at the Coimbatore Central Prison. By this time, he had been charged with 13 separate counts of rape and murder in Tiruppur, Salem and Dharmapuri.

2011 murder spree in Bellary Jaishankar escaped to Karnataka, where he raped and murdered six women in Bellary over the next month. He also killed a man and a child in Dharmapuri. In the last week of April 2011, the police traced his mobile phone to Delhi. The police initially believed that he had discarded his mobile phone in Delhi.

Second arrest (2011) By May 2011, the police had put up wanted posters seeking information about Jaishankar, in public places across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On the night of 4 May 2011, Jaishankar reached Elagi village in Karnataka, on a stolen motorcycle. He approached a woman, Chandrakala Hotagi, who was working alone in a field, and asked her for water and food. He then tried to rape her, but Chandrakala raised the alarm. Her husband, Prakash Hotagi, and a friend came to her rescue. Jaishankar tried to flee, but was caught by Prakash and other villagers. The locals brought him to the Zalaki police station. He was handed over to the Chitradurga police on 5 May 2011.

Second escape (2013) After his 2011 arrest, Jaishankar was kept at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bangalore. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison. He scaled a 20-foot (6.1 m) wall, then walked atop a 15-foot (4.6 m) wall and finally scaled the 30-foot (9.1 m) high compound wall. He managed to cross the electric fence safely since it was not functional that night. He reportedly carried with him a bamboo pole balancing on the walls and a bedsheet to serve as a cushion over the glass pieces on the wall top. He was injured during the escape, and drops of blood were found outside the outer wall. He was reportedly wearing a police uniform during his escape. 11 jail staff, including three wardens, two jailors and six security guards, were suspended following his escape to reprimand them for allowing the escape.

The police issued a red alert to all police stations in Karnataka and urged women to be careful in isolated places. They announced a reward of 500,000 for any information leading to his arrest. They also analyzed his psychology and life history to predict his next actions.

Third arrest (2013) During his escape, Jaishankar fractured his leg while jumping from the 30-foot (9.1 m) high wall of the prison compound. He did not contact his family in Tamil Nadu. Soon after his escape, a police informant managed to get in touch with him. The informant lured him to a dilapidated building near the Kudlu gate in Bangalore, with the promise of a motorbike to facilitate his escape outside the city. There, the police arrested Jaishankar, at noon on 6 September 2013.

The surgery on his leg having been completed, Jaishankar was sent to Central Prison, Bangalore to begin serving his sentence. He was kept in a high-security cell, with 24/7 CCTV monitoring and extra lights. The lock of his cell was designed to be out of his reach. It was decided that in case of an illness, he would be treated inside his cell, instead of being taken to a hospital. The police also decided to deploy extra security while escorting him to trials to minimize the likelihood of an escape.

Subsequently, on 27 February, he killed himself by slitting his own throat with a shaving blade, which he had acquired from a barber the day before. during their daily rounds, and provided him first aid. He was later moved to Victoria Hospital, where he was declared dead at 5:10 a.m.