A gutsy eight-year-old girl fought tooth and nail to thwart a rape attempt on her elder sister, a Class V student, by none other than their private tutor who used the trust he had gained teaching them for two years to his advantage while their mother was away.

The alarming incident, which is an eye-opener for all parents who leave their children in the custody of acquaintances they feel are dependable, took place in Sector IX of Bokaro steel city on Tuesday evening.

The teenaged tutor, Nishant Kumar, himself a college student and National Defence Academy aspirant, was arrested on Wednesday morning and forwarded to Chas jail after he confessed to his offence during nightlong police grilling.

Officer-in-charge of Sector IX police station T.N. Jha said 19-year-old Nishant, a BSc student of Bokaro College, was nabbed from a relative's house, a stone's throw from his own, soon after the incident, which took place around 7.30pm on Tuesday. "He was initially detained and interrogated. We arrested him and sent him to jail this morning after he admitted to what he had done."

According to the officer, unlike other days, the tutor - who is also a neighbour - arrived to teach his two students, daughters of a BSF inspector posted in Hazaribagh, late on Tuesday just when their mother was about to leave home to fetch milk for their dinner.

The unsuspecting woman, who perhaps knew Nishant since he was a child, left her daughters in his custody and promised to return within half an hour. She had little idea that those 30 minutes would change their lives.

"As soon as the mother left, Nishant ordered the younger sister, a Class I student, to study in the adjoining room. He gave her some homework to keep her busy and forbade her to disturb him while he taught her elder sister," Jha quoted from the complaint.

Once he was alone with her, Nishant began kissing and molesting the 11-year-old girl. Terrified, she tried to push him away, but realised she wasn't quite a match for his physical strength. She screamed for help.

"Her cries brought her sister running to the room. Caught unawares, Nishant let off the girl for a moment. She tried to take shelter in the washroom, but he dragged her back by the hair and shoved her onto the bed. As he tried to force himself on her, the little sister pounced on him and bit him on the leg and back. He still did not budge. The sisters together fought him for several minutes, all the while screaming for help," the OC said.

Not expecting such a challenge and fearing the screams had attracted neighbours' attention, Nishant fled.

When their mother returned from the dairy booth, the girls told her their ordeal. The woman lodged a complaint at Sector IX thana, mobilised local residents and tracked down the youth to his hideout. He was later handed over to police.