BALASORE: Tension gripped the Soro area after a 21-year-old man was allegedly caught assaulting a minor girl sexually at Adanga Bazaar here on Friday.
The accused is Maheswar Dhada who is the neighbour of the 3-year-old survivor. Sources said at around 8 am, the girl was playing in front of her house when Dhada arrived on the spot. He asked her about the whereabouts of her parents. When the girl informed him that they had gone to the field to work, the accused lured her with a packet of kurkure. He took the minor to the backyard of the house and reportedly assaulted her sexually.
When the girl started to scream, neighbours rushed to her house and found the accused in a compromising position. Dhada was given a sound thrashing by the villagers.
On being informed, Soro police rushed to the village and rescued the accused from the clutches of angry locals. Later, the girl’s parents complained to Dhada in the police station.
Soro IIC Prabhanshu Sekhar Mishra said that based on the complaint, a case was registered under sections 376 (A), and 376 (B) of the IPC with r/w section 6 of the POCSO Act. “The accused confessed to his crime during interrogation. He will be produced in POCSO court at Balasore on Saturday,” Mishra added.