POCSO accused jumps from Mangaluru court building, dies

A 32-year-old man arrested under the POCSO act ended his life by jumping from the sixth floor of the Mangaluru district court complex on Tuesday.

As the man Raviraj had sustained serious head injuries, he succumbed before being shifted to the hospital.

Raviraj, eking out a living by painting buildings, was arrested after being accused of sexually harassing a minor girl near a college in Thokkottu. Ullal police arrested the man from Kinya under POCSO Act and was taken to the court at 5 pm.

The man had filed the bail application through the advocate. The incident occurred after the advocate had filed bail application. He attempted to flee after the hearing and had jumped from the sixth floor of the building. Mangaluru Commissioner of Police N Shashi Kumar said the accused had pushed aside two cops before jumping from the sixth floor.

"The accused should face trial and not engage in such acts of ending lives," Commissioner appealed.

In another incident, a man had ended his life in a similar manner by jumping from the court complex building in 2017. District and Sessions Judge Muralidhar Pai B who inspected the spot directed officials to install grills or nets to prevent people from jumping to their deaths.