7-year-old girl raped in Parbhani district; man arrested

In yet another case of rape of a minor, an 18-year-old man allegedly sexually assaulted a seven -year-old girl in Maharashtra's Parbhani district, police said today.

The man was arrested today, five days after the crime, when he was trying to flee Parbhani, located around 490km from here in the Marathwada region, they said.

The incident occurred on April 13 in a village near Selu town when the victim had gone to play with the accused's younger sister at his home, a police official said.

When the accused's sister went out for some work and no other family member was at home, he called the girl to a room on the pretext of watching television and allegedly raped her, he said.

As the girl started crying, he dropped her at her residence and left, the official said.

The incident came to light when the parents of the victim took her to a doctor, the official said, adding they then approached the police and lodged a complaint.

After getting to know about the police case against him, the accused fled from his residence. Today morning, officials of the Selu Police Station got an information that he is about to leave Parbhani, he said.

Accordingly, a trap was laid at the Parbhani bus depot from where the accused was arrested, the official added.