A school correspondent who went absconding after raping a 15-year-old girl and driving her to commit suicide was arrested by the Koyambedu police on Friday.
The rape came to light when she died of burns at the Government Kilpauk Hospital on Tuesday, where she was brought after she set herself on fire.
Her suicide note threw more light on the cause of death.
Police said her uncle Saravanan, a school correspondent, spiked her cold drink and raped her a few months ago. She was taken to a hospital a few months later on fainting, and she told her parents about the incident. Her parents let Saravanan go with a warning.
A police officer said, “Saravanan continued to harass the girl claiming that he had a video of them. He used this to force her to submit to his demands repeatedly. This pushed her to commit suicide, said the police. Saravanan was booked by the police under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act. He and his wife absconded.
Meanwhile, students of the school and their parents staged a protest demanding his arrest.
After his arrest, Saravanan was produced before a metropolitan magistrate court and lodged at Central Prison.
