Govindachamy, the convict serving life sentence for the 2011 Soumya murder case, escaped from the high-security Kannur Central Jail, Kerala.
The disappearance came to light during an inspection of his cell in the early hours of Friday, the police told PTI.
After his absence from his cell was revealed, jail authorities launched an immediate search operation in and around the prison premises, but the inmate was nowhere to be found.
Kannur SP Nidhinraj said that the convict was wearing a black shirt and pants at the time of escape, and he had a small beard. He added that Govindachamy escaped between 4:15 am and 6:30 am as per prison CCTV footage and jumped the compound wall using a rope made out of clothes.
Several locals of Kannur town claimed that they saw Govindachamy within the city.
The convict, who does not have a left hand and walks with a crutch was caught from near a derelict building at Thalap within the Kannur city limits, according to visuals on local TV channels. As per the news reports, he was hiding inside a well near the building.
Soumya, a 23-year-old woman from Manjakkad near Shornur, was raped and murdered by Govindachamy while travelling on a passenger train alone from Ernakulam to Shornur on 1 February 2011. Sustaining fatal injuries during the act she succumbed to her injuries 5 days later, at Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur.
The Thrissur fast track court found Govindachamy guilty of the charges of rape and murder giving him the death penalty in 2012. Later the High Court of Kerala upheld the verdict in 2014 whereas in 2016 the Supreme Court changed the verdict and gave the accused life imprisonment saying there was not enough evidence that 23-year-old Soumya had been murdered or pushed off the train.
Earlier today, Soumya's mother, speaking to reporters, questioned how the convict escaped the prison and claimed it could not have happened without any help. She had expressed confidence that Govindachamy will be caught soon, as the "whole world is watching news about his escape".
She also said that he was imprisoned after considerable effort from her side including approaching the Supreme Court.
"No mother should undergo the pain I have," she added.
The case shook the nation and sparked widespread debate over women's safety on public transport.
Authorities have now ordered an internal probe into how he managed to escape the high security prison. The jail authorities are expected to submit a preliminary report to the state home department as questions mount over the lapses in surveillance and prison protocols reported, Times of India.
