A 60-year-old man accused of attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl in Bareilly, committed suicide under mysterious circumstances.
His body was found hanging from a tree in Faridpur area of the district on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Harish Gupta, had left his house since being accused in the case last Sunday. A local electrician had lodged a complaint alleging that Gupta attempted to rape his minor daughter.
Based on the complaint, the police registered a case against Gupta at the Faridpur police station. He was charged under Section 354 (attempt to outrage the modesty of a woman) and appropriate sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the POCSO Act.
According to a report, before the cops could arrest him, Gupta went into hiding. Some neighbours claimed him to be “innocent” and alleged that the case was just lodged to settle an old dispute and to defame him. While the police were searching for him, locals found him hanging from a mango tree on Tuesday.
The locals informed the police about the body and the cops who visited the spot sent the body for post-mortem.
"An investigation into the sexual assault case was on when we came to know about the hanging. The preliminary investigation suggests it to be a case of suicide. The autopsy report has not indicated use of force or any external injury on the body," Faridpur police station SHO Vijay Singh claimed.
Gupta was living alone. It remains unclear if he committed suicide out of shame or for being framed in a fake case. Cops are conducting further investigation into the rape attempt allegation as well as Gupta's death.
Meanwhile, two youths were booked for allegedly sexually harassing a minor girl in Shamli district, police said on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Monti and Sumit.
The girl's father alleged in his complaint that Monti and Sumit sexually harassed his daughter while she was returning home from a shop in the village under Garhi Pukhta police station area.
On the basis of the complaint, a case was registered against the two youths under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Tuesday, police said.