A 35-year-old provision store owner was arrested on Monday for allegedly raping a nine-year-old girl at his shop in Hanumanthanagar two days ago. The accused, identified as Nataraj, has been booked under several sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) and produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.
According to the police, Nataraj owns a provision store at the Raghavendra Block in Srinagar, Hanumanthanagar. On Saturday evening around 5 p.m. when the minor girl was walking back home from her grandparents’ house, Nataraj lured her with chocolates and took her inside the provision store, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her, the police said.
The victim complained of abdominal pain to her parents after going home. Her parents rushed her to a nearby hospital as she was bleeding. Doctors at the hospital confirmed that the child was sexually assaulted and an MLC (Medico-Legal Case) was registered and forwarded to Hanumanthanagar police station on Sunday morning.
The police, who visited the hospital, collected details about the incident from the victim’s parents and headed to the provision store. The store was closed and the accused had fled. On Monday evening, Nataraj was arrested by a special team formed by the Hanumanthanagar police.
