We construct a class of spherically symmetric collapse models in which a naked singularity may develop as the end state of collapse. The matter distribution considered has negative radial and tangential pressures, but the weak energy condition is obeyed throughout. The singularity forms at the center of the collapsing cloud and continues to be visible for a finite time. The duration of visibility depends on the nature of energy distribution. Hence the causal structure of the resulting singularity depends on the nature of the mass function chosen for the cloud. We present a general model in which the naked singularity formed is timelike, neither pointlike nor null. Our work represents a step toward clarifying the necessary conditions for the validity of the Cosmic Censorship Conjecture. The cosmic censorship conjecture (CCC) has been widely recognized as one of the most important open problems in gravitational physics today. This is because several important areas in the theory and applications of black hole physics crucially depend on CCC. Nevertheless, the CCC remains unproved and there exists no mathematically precise and definite statement for the CCC which one could try to prove (see e.g. [1-6] for some recent reviews, and references therein).For this reason a detailed study of dynamically developing gravitational collapse models within the framework of general relativity becomes rather essential. The hope is that such a study may allow us to formulate a provable statement of the CCC, if it is correct in some form. Such investigations also help us to discard certain statements of the CCC which might sound plausible but for which there exist counter-examples which show that the CCC cannot be valid in such a form. They may even illustrate the physical conditions that give rise to naked singularities (NS) or black holes (BH) as end states of a realistic gravitational collapse. So far, such dynamical collapse studies have focused largely on collapse models that create either BH or NS, depending on the nature of the initial profiles of density, pressure, and velocity from which the collapse develops. In many of these cases, when a NS develops, it is located at the center of the spherically symmetric cloud (a central singularity, see e.g. [5][6][7]). In that case, there will exist families of non-spacelike future directed geodesics, which will be accessible to distant observers in the future, and which will terminate at the singularity in the past, thus making it visible in principle. This is opposed to the BH case where the apparent horizon forms early enough to cover all of the singularity, with no portion of it remaining visible to outside observers.If we require the pressure to be positive then the "central" singularity, if it is naked, corresponds to a singularity along a visible null line. The remainder of the singularity is spacelike and covered by a horizon. In this paper, however, we permit the pressure to be negative and examine the structure of the singularity. We construct an explicit solution in which...