A self-styled godman was arrested in Odisha's Cuttack district for allegedly sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl, police said on Monday.
The incident happened in the Kendupatna area when the girl was going to a shop near her house to buy some items, they said. The accused, a 50-year-old man, took her to a nearby mutt and sexually assaulted her.
A case was registered under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at the Nandankanan police station, police said. The accused was immediately arrested, they said.
This is the second arrest of a godman in Bhubaneswar on rape charges within a week. On October 11, a 78-year-old godman and his 56-year-old associate were arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl at their ashram in 2022.
In a separate incident, a man allegedly killed a person who tried to rape his 10-year-old daughter, police said on Monday.
The incident happened in Odisha's Dhenkanal district on Sunday when the girl had gone out with her father to bathe in a canal, they said.
After finishing their bath in the canal near their village in the Parjang police station area, the girl walked a short distance away to relieve herself.
A 27-year-old man allegedly attacked her. Hearing her cries, her father struck the assailant with a rock, killing him on the spot. He later surrendered at the police station, police said.