Man arrested for trying to rape mentally unstable girl

A 21-year-old man was arrested in Odisha's Jajpur district today for allegedly trying to rape a "mentally unstable" girl, a police officer said.

Referring to the complaint filed by the girl's parents, the officer said that the 13-year-old girl was allegedly attacked yesterday afternoon while attending to the nature's call at Bada Balikuda village in Balichandrapur police station area of the district.

"Finding her alone in the bushes, the accused, who hails from the same village, apparently held her from behind, and tried to undress her. On hearing the girl scream, local people rushed to her rescue," said Rakesh Chandra Tripathy, the inspector-in-charge of Bailchandrapur police station.

The accused, who tried to flee the scene, was also nabbed by the locals, he said.

"The 21-year-old man has been booked under relevant sections of Indian Penal code and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," Tripathy stated, adding that medical examinations have been conducted on the accused and the teenager at the district headquarters hospital in Jajpur town.