Kolkata, Dec 1 A 45-year-old man has been arrested on charges of raping a 10-year-old girl in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, said the police on Monday.
The man was produced before a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court in Midnapore, and the judge sent him to two days' police custody.
Following the incident, locals have demanded exemplary punishment for the accused.
According to police sources, the incident took place on Sunday morning. The parents of the minor girl, a resident of Narayangarh police station area of West Midnapore district, had gone out for work. The girl had gone to fetch water from a tube well on the roadside. Allegedly, at that time, the man from the next-door neighbour called her. The accused's house is next to the house of the 'victim'. The girl called him Jethu (uncle). The man allegedly raped her when no one was at the girl's house.
The police said that when the minor returned home, her mother questioned her after she found her lying on her bed. Then the girl broke down in tears and told her mother about the entire incident.
Meanwhile, a neighbour also told the girl's mother that she had seen the accused taking the minor girl inside their house.
Following this, the minor girl's mother went to Narayangarh police station and filed a written complaint. Based on the complaint, the police arrested the accused on Sunday night.
A senior officer of West Midnapore district police said, "The accused was produced before the Midnapore district court today. We had sought police custody of the accused. The POCSO court judge ordered his two-day police custody. An investigation into the incident has been initiated. The accused has been taken into two-day custody for questioning."
The incident created public outrage in the area. Villagers were shocked to see a man whom the girl called uncle could indulge in such a crime. They demanded exemplary punishment for the man.
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