A 37-year-old man allegedly killed himself by consuming poison shortly after he was booked for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Thane district, police said on Monday.
A case was registered against the man for rape and other sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Saturday night in a village in Murbad taluka.
"The rape FIR was registered on Saturday night and a hunt was launched for the accused by the police. When he came to know that the police had registered a case and were looking for him, the accused rushed to the house of his friend and consumed poison. He died in a hospital," police inspector Pramod Babar said citing a preliminary investigation.
As per the FIR, the accused, whose name is withheld by the police, allegedly raped the teenage girl from his village repeatedly between January 18 and February 15 by threatening to circulate her private pictures. He had also threatened to kill the parents of the victim.
Further investigation is underway, a police official said.
