A 38-year-old man arrested for allegedly defiling his 11-year-old stepdaughter has reportedly died by suicide while in police custody at the Agyeikrom Police Station in the Central Region.
The deceased, identified as Emmanuel Cudjoe, was arrested in the early hours of May 10, 2026, over the alleged abuse case.
According to police, officers at the station later received information at about 11:00 a.m. the same day that the suspect had hanged himself in the cell using a strip torn from the edge of the blanket he had been sleeping on.
Following the incident, personnel from the Elmina District Police Command and the Regional Crime Scene Management Team visited the station to inspect the scene.
The police, in a statement, said the suspect was found hanging against the wall of the cell, with the torn fabric firmly tied around his neck. Preliminary observations reportedly showed no visible marks of violence on the body.
The deceased, a carpenter and native of Ayensudo, a suburb of Elmina, was later transported to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by a medical officer on duty.
His body has since been deposited at the hospital morgue pending autopsy, while relatives have been informed.
Police say investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death are ongoing.
