Mumbai, April 13 -- The accused in the Kalyan rape and murder case allegedly died by suicide in Navi Mumbai's Taloja jail, officials said on Sunday.

Vishal Gawli, accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering a minor girl in Maharashtra's Kalyan, hanged himself using a towel at 3:30 in the morning. According to a Taloja jail official, his body was sent to JJ Hospital in Mumbai for post-mortem.

The accused was lodged in the Taloja jail for three and a half months.

The Kalyan rape and murder case sparked outrage as it was followed by another sexual assault case in Badlapur, which occurred in August last year, where the victims were two minors studying in nursery class.

In December, the police arrested a couple - Vishal Gawli and his wife ...