HYDERABAD: A man who took away a nine-year-old girl returning from a Ganesha idol immersion procession and sexually assaulted her in Mahbubnagar district, has been arrested here on Tuesday.
Police said the girl, a Class IV student, had left her home along with her grandmother on Sunday to see the immersion procession at her village, Chinna Chintalakunta in Mahbubnagar district.
While they were returning home after the immersion, Poli Raju, 20, a tractor driver and neighbour of the victim, approached them on his bike and offered to drop the girl home. As Raju was their neighbour, grandmother allowed him to take the girl. Raju took the girl to a secluded area on the outskirts of the village and sexually assaulted her. By the time the victim’s grandmother and family came to know about the sexual assault, Raju had escaped from the village. Mahbubnagar superintendent of police Rema Rajeshwari said a case was registered and a hunt launched for Raju. He was traced in Hyderabad on Tuesday and taken into custody. He was produced before a court, which has remanded him to judicial custody. “The victim has been admitted to a hospital. She would be provided counselling with the help of professionals,” the SP added.
