Man hangs self 2 weeks after rape of his niece

A 45- year- old man was found hanging from a tree outside his house in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh on Thursday, two weeks after his 20- yearold blind niece was allegedly raped in a shed in the area.

The deceased, a rickshawpuller, was the sole bread earner in the family that includes the fatherless rape survivor and her 55- year- old mother. The rape survivor on Thursday had said that she wants to withdraw the rape case and return to her village in Uttar Pradesh because there is no one left in the family to fight a long legal battle.

The police remained unsure about the trigger for the alleged suicide, but the rape survivor said her uncle was traumatised by the crime and would cry about it every night after returning from work.

Neighbours said the man was also angry with the police for arresting just one of the three suspects and “letting off ” two others despite the survivor claiming that she had been gangraped by “two- three” men. However, the police insisted that only one man committed the rape.

“Every night, my uncle would drink and cry about what had happened to me,” said the girl. “He was the one running to the police station each time. He wanted all the men involved in the rape to be punished,” said the rape survivor’s mother.

On Wednesday, the deceased had his drink and dinner before going to bed. “When I walked out of home at 5 am, I found him hanging from a high branch of a tree. We depended on him for everything. He was the only person in our family who could make calls. My daughter and I can’t even dial 100, we can only receive calls,” she added.