JAJPUR: A 50-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl in Kotapur area under the Dharmasala police limits here on Tuesday.
The accused is Siba Prasad Mahalik, a native of Nanangara village and known to the 17-year-old girl, said police.
The crime took place on Sunday and came to light after the girl’s mother filed a complaint in Dharmasala police station on Monday night. Acting on the complaint, police registered a case and arrested the accused in the early hours of Tuesday.
Police said Siba is married and has two children. He is well known to the survivor and used to visit her family regularly. On Sunday evening, the accused lured the minor on the pretext of showing her around a local fair. While returning home from the fair in the night, he allegedly took her to secluded place and sexually assaulted her.
On reaching home, the girl narrated her ordeal before her mother following which the complaint was lodged. The accused was arrested under relevant sections of BNS and the POCSO Act. Both the accused and the girl were taken to the local community health centre (CHC) for medical examination. Siba was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody, said Dharmasala IIC Chinmayee Sahoo.