Mumbai, Jul 31 (Mumbai Mirror): A 22-year-old undertrial, who was lodged at the Thane Central jail, committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom on Saturday morning. A case of accidental death has been filed and witness statements are being taken.

According to the Thane police, the deceased Ashit Maranwar was booked in July last year under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) for the gangrape of a minor along with four others by the Waliv police in Vasai. Although one of the men got bail, the other four, including Maranwar have been in jail since last year, since they were unable to secure bail. The deceased, however, had alleged that he was being framed for a crime he never committed.

The hanging happened in one of the two bathrooms near his barrack. The post-mortem report says the suicide took place at around 2.30 am, in which he hung himself with his shirt from a window.

His body was only discovered when another undertrial went to the washroom at around 4.30 am and alerted the guards on seeing his body.

"As soon as we saw the body, we took it down and sent him to the hospital where he was declared dead on admission. Prima facie there is no indication of foul play. However, we are enquiring into the matter and CCTV footage is also being checked," said Nitin Wayanchal, SP (Thane Jail).

According to the police, Maranwar was going through depression and had confided in some of the other undertrials in the jail about what he alleged was a false case against him. He was also disturbed because he had been unable to secure bail since last year.

According to the police the deceased identified as Ashit Maranwar was booked under POCSO act by the Waliv police in Vasai in July last year. Before his death he had spoken to few under trails who were lodged with him. He was disturbed and had spoken to few people. He alleged that he was being punished for a crime never committed. He was also unable to secure a bail since a year and was disturbed due to that too.