A convict in the horrific December 2012 gangrape case attempted to commit suicide on Wednesday by trying to hang himself in his cell but was taken to a hospital. A Times of India report said that Vinay Sharma, who has been sentenced to death in the case, consumed some pills and then tried to hang himself. An NDTV report said that the former gym instructor tried to hang himself using a handkerchief but was taken to a hospital for treatment. An India Today report said that he had tried taking sleeping pills and his condition was presently critical.

Vinay sharma, a convict in Nirbhaya gangrape & murder case, attempted suicide in Tihar jail. Admitted. @NBTDilli pic.twitter.com/nL9U0GX1Lb

— Pankaj Tyagi (@PankajTyagiNBT) August 25, 2016

Earlier, the prime accused in the case, Ram Singh had hanged himself in Tihar jail in 2013. Sharma had earlier complained of being assaulted in jail in 2013. He had also told a trial court that he had beaten the victim's friend on the night of December 16, 2012. “I have committed a horrible crime. I had beaten up the boy. I should be hanged,” Sharma had reportedly told the court. Sharma is presently facing the death penalty along with three others and his appeal is before the Supreme Court. A 23-year-old woman was brutally gangraped and brutalised on December 16, 2012 which had led to her death and had sparked protests over the absence of safety for women in the national capital and country.