Man held for sexually molesting minor girl in Noida

A 56-year-old man was arrested here Tuesday on charges of sexually molesting a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, police said.

The accused, identified as Akbar Ali, had Monday allegedly molested the minor at Sadarpur village under Sector 39 police station limits, they said.

According to officials, Ali, a native of West Bengal, had come to visit his daughter and son-in-law here and was staying with them for the last three days at their rented accommodation, adjoining that of the girl and her parents.

"On Monday afternoon, when the parents of the girl were out for work, the man lured her to his room, but was spotted by another local. The local then informed her parents, both daily wage labourers, who returned and their child narrated to them her ordeal," a police official said.

The accused had gone missing since Monday afternoon and the child's parents had reported the matter first on emergency number 100 and then at the Sector 39 police station, where an first information report was registered.

Station House Officer Sector 39 police station Uday Pratap Singh said Ali was arrested within 24 hours near a restaurant in Sector 46.

"He has been charged under the Indian Penal Code Section 376 (2) sub-section F (raping a woman less than 12 years of age) and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012," he said.

The accused was produced before a court, which has remanded him in judicial custody, the SHO said.