Patna: A man raped a tribal woman, allegedly abandoned by her husband, in a village in Kishanganj district on Friday.

Mohammad Kalu (32) committed the crime when the woman was alone in her house, which comes under the jurisdiction of Dighalbank police station. "First, I was abandoned by my habitual drunkard husband. Now, I have been raped," said the woman, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The incident took place around 7pm when the woman was cooking for her minor daughter. As the door was open and dense fog had enveloped the locality, the accused barged into her house and raped her, she told the police. Her cries for help went unheeded.

The accused threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the incident to the police. "As soon as the tormentor fled, I shouted for help at the top of my voice. Some locals chased the accused and caught him," she said.

Kalu was turned in to the police but not before being thrashed by angry local residents. Kalu later confessed to his crime. On Saturday, he was produced in the local court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

The rape survivor was sent to hospital for medical examination. She, however, told this newspaper that the complaint was lodged after the intervention of senior police officers. "Initially, the local police were reluctant to lodge the complaint," she alleged.

A police officer posted at Dighalbank police station said: "She was frightened and was not been able to communicate her trauma, which delayed the process of lodging the formal complaint."

Kishanganj sub-divisional police officer Kamini Bala said: "The police will submit the chargesheet against the accused at the earliest."