SIVAGANGA:A 65-year-old man whose name was cleared in a case of rape of her daughter allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison here on Saturday.
Muthupandi was first accused of repeatedly raping his minor daughter, but his name was later removed from the list by the CB-CID, after his daughter claimed that she made the statement against him under duress. He was subsequently released from prison.
According to police, he was staying at Kambar Street here after his release from prison in February and soon became addicted to alcohol.
On Friday evening, his father Palswamy found him lying unconscious and rushed him to the Sivaganga Medical College Government Hospital, where he died on Saturday.
Police suspect that Muthupandi consumed alcohol mixed with pesticide.
Sivaganga Town Police are investigating.
The rape case hit the headlines after the 17-year-old girl, with the help of her aunt Selvi of Coimbatore, lodged a complaint on June 4, 2015, claiming that her father Muthupandi, brother Karthik and others raped her repeatedly. Following the incident, both were arrested. Later, Karthik was released on bail.
The girl had named 25 men in her statement, which included a sub-inspector among others. Eight persons were arrested and the case was transferred to the CB-CID in October last year.
In a U-turn, the girl later made another statement saying that she was compelled by her aunt to take names of some persons who were not involved. She added that she had also been abused by her aunt’s minor son. Selvi and her son were arrested based on the statement.
Among the other accused were sales representative Mutukumar (35), lawyer Abdul Ajis (37), bus conductor M Namachivayam (53), then sub-inspector of Sivaganga Town Police Station R Shankar (55), Aravind (27), Dr Manivahanan, Kannan and an acupuncturist.
The chargesheet also included five juveniles, including Selvi’s son and four friends of Karthik.