Dharmapuri: A former special sub-inspector of police, who was accused of raping and impregnating a minor girl, hanged himself to death at a teak plantation near Dharmapuri railway station here on Thursday morning.A police officer identified the deceased as N Sahadevan, 58, of Vennampatti in Dharmapuri. A special sub-inspector attached to the Dharmapuri police, Sahadevan was dismissed from service in Dec 2023 after he was booked for raping a minor girl. He is survived by wife and two children – a son and a daughter. According to a police officer, Sahadevan was arrested by the Pennagaram all-woman police in Nov 2023 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for raping and impregnating the minor girl earlier that year while he was posted at the Pennagaram police station. “He was booked based on a complaint lodged by the rape survivor. He later surrendered and was lodged in jail under judicial custody. He came out on bail after spending a few months in prison,” the officer said. Around 3am on Thursday, the officer said, Sahadevan left home saying he was going to Madras high court for the trial of the case. He was later found hanging from one of the trees at a teak plantation near the railway station using a sari. When alerted, the Dharmapuri Town police retrieved the body, which was sent to the (Dharmapuri) Govt Medical College and Hospital for an autopsy. Preliminary inquiries revealed that his mobile phone and a black bag that he was carrying were missing. Police have registered a case and further investigations are under way.
