Bhubaneswar, July 5: A 17-year-old national rugby girl player, who was allegedly kidnapped and had been missing for more than 40 days, was rescued from Nayagarh district last night.

Police have arrested Prabhat Pradhan, 28, a mason by profession, on charge of kidnapping her.

However, the case has taken a curious turn with both the girl and the accused insisting that they were in love and had married at a temple after eloping last month.

The father of the girl, a resident of Pada Sahi village under Dadha Panchayat within Nandankanan police limits, had lodged a police complaint on June 23. The police said Prabhat had been arrested on kidnapping charges because the girl was a minor.

"The girl had eloped with Prabhat and went to Delanga in Puri district where they stayed together for a while. When they felt insecure there, Prabhat took the girl to his uncle's house at Budijari village in Nayagarh district where the cops finally traced them yesterday," said police commissioner R.P. Sharma.

The girl said she had gone with Prabhat on her own.

"I called him and asked him to come to Kalpana Square, from where we went to Puri together. He has never forced me to go with him, and we also got married in a temple," she said.

A Plus Two final-year student at Barang, the rugby player had won a gold medal in the National Women's Rugby Championship held this year. Besides, she had also won a gold and silver medal in the under-19 competition at the 60th National School Rugby Championships in 2014-15.

The police said Prabhat used to visit the girl's house and both fell in love a year ago. Prabhat also denied the charge of kidnapping. "I had also advised her not to elope, but she insisted me that she wanted to go with me," said Prabhat.

However, the girl's father alleged that his daughter had been kidnapped.

"We were completely unaware of the love affair between them. We wanted her to continue with the game and bring laurels to the state. But, we never thought that such an incident would take place," said the girl's father.

The police said the girl would be produced before the magistrate at a local court here and her statement would be recorded.