SRI AMAN: A farmer sought by police for allegedly raping his step granddaughter took his own life by consuming pesticide on Thursday, reported the New Straits Times.
A team from the Sri Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) found the suspect, 54, lying on the ground in a semi-conscious state near a hut in a padi field in Sembayang here.
Sarawak CID chief Datuk Dev Kumar said the man was frothing at the mouth when he was found at about 11pm on Thursday.
The suspect was rushed to the Sri Aman Hospital but was pronounced dead at the hospital at about 5am yesterday.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the suspect committed suicide by consuming a type of pesticide, said Dev in a statement.
On Thursday, police were informed by the same hospital of a Form Two student who had attempted suicide by jumping off the first floor of her school hostel.
After a medical examination, it was revealed that the 14-year-old girl was five weeks pregnant.
Initially, the identity of the unborn child’s father could not be ascertained but on Sept 27, the girl had told a medical social officer at the hospital that she had been raped twice by her step grandfather the previous month. The officer then lodged a police report.
Dev said further police investigation revealed that the first rape incident occurred in early August when the suspect had fetched the victim from her hostel to bring her home for the weekend. However, instead of taking her home, he took her to a hut in an oil palm plantation and raped her.
The suspect repeated the heinous act a week later in the living room of their house while everyone in the household was asleep.
Dev said the case, which was being investigated under Section 376B of the Penal Code for rape, is considered solved.
“We cannot proceed with the investigation anymore, since the only suspect in the case died,” he added.
