Phulbani: The Khajuripada police arrested a youth Friday for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl.
Sources said, the youth took her away while she was asleep with her grandfather and raped her. The matter came to light after her grandfather lodged a complaint with police Friday.
Acting on the complaint, police swung into action and arrested the youth identified as Prakash Chandra Kanhar.
According to sources, the incident occurred July 17 while the baby was sleeping next to her grandfather in the house verandah and other family members were sleeping inside the house. The elderly man woke up late in the night at around 2AM and found the baby missing. He alerted other family members who woke up and searched for the baby, but in vain.
Later, in the morning, the family members spotted the baby in a bathroom, close to their neighbour’s house. It was during the village gathering, family members learnt that Prakash had abducted the girl.
Villagers held him and thrashed him after which he confessed to the crime.
So, the victim’s grandfather lodged a complaint with the police. “We have registered a case and arrested Prakash. Further probe is on,” SDPO Surendranath Murmu said.
PNN