CHENNAI: A 40-year-old man, who was a suspect in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act case, died by suicide in his house in Pulianthope on Thursday. Police sources said the man took the extreme step after he was summoned for inquiry.

The man had allegedly sexually assaulted his nine-year-old niece when the girl visited his house along with her parents last week. When the girl informed her parents about this, the family members met and both parties arrived at a compromise. Though no police complaint was filed, one of the family members made an anonymous call to the Child Welfare Department who alerted the police.

On learning about the complaint, the man initially went to another town after which his wife told the police that she would bring him to the police station for inquiry. Meanwhile, the man who returned home on Thursday took his own life. The police recovered his body and moved it to the government hospital for postmortem.

In another case of suicide, a 48-year-old man undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) died by suicide late Thursday night by leaping off the fifth floor of the hospital.