An elderly man accused of raping a teenage girl, who had escaped from police custody more than two weeks ago, was found yesterday hung from a tree in Poipet town, after what police are saying appears to be a suicide.

Nimit commune chief Pol Sitha said police officials concluded that due to the condition in which the body was found, it appeared that the suspect, 66-year-old Proeung Ek, had been dead for several days.

After the suspect’s body was found by a hunter and reported to police, the commune chief said the suspect’s wife confessed that “he [the suspect] used to rape their two daughters.”

Proeung Ek was arrested on the morning of February 13 after a 13-year-old girl claimed he had raped her in the forest, but managed to escape from police custody that night.

A Nimit commune police officer, who declined to be named, said the suspect had fled after he convinced police to take off his handcuffs.