Patna, July 26: A seven-year-old girl was allegedly molested by an employee of a bicycle shop on Jagdeo Path this afternoon, following which the victim’s kin ransacked the shop.

The girl, a resident of the Jagdeo Path area, had gone to the shop with her 12-year-old brother to service a bicycle bought from there a month ago. The shop also repairs bicycles. The girl was allegedly molested inside the shop around 2.30pm, a time when the Jagdeo Path area remains busy with customers and shopkeepers.

The victim’s father has lodged an FIR with the Airport police station, as the area falls under it jurisdiction.

A police officer told The Telegraph: “According to initial information, the family had bought a bicycle from the shop a month back and the children had brought it today for servicing. The victim’s brother left her at the shop for some other work. The accused allegedly lured the victim into one corner of the shop on the pretext of playing computer games and molested her. The girl immediately started to scream and ran from the shop weeping. She directly went home and told her mother.”

Once the family learnt what happened at the shop, they went to the shop. “They (the mother and other family members of the victim) were very angry and broke the windowpanes and glass showcases at the shop and manhandled the employees. The commotion soon attracted a crowd. The motorcycle of the employee, who allegedly molested the victim, was parked outside the shop. Some of the shopkeepers in the area set it on fire. The accused, however, managed to flee in the crowd,” added the police officer.

“The employee is absconding. Raids are on to nab him. The police will record the shop’s owner statement,” said another police officer.