Kendrapara: Police on Friday arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly molesting a minor girl in an inebriated state near Gothi Chowk at Tilanga village in Derabish police limits.
The cops nabbed Mihir Singh following a complaint by the minor's father. On Thursday, Singh allegedly dragged the victim to a deserted site in a drunken state and tried to sexually assault her. However, when the victim resisted and raised an alarm, the accused fled the spot. Following the incident, the minor's family members spoke to village elders, who recommended lodging an FIR. The girl's father lodged the FIR on Friday, following which the cops swung into action.
Singh, a native of neighbouring Haladia village in Mahanga police limits. The girl has also identified the accused. Both Singh and the victim have undergone medical tests.
The accused was booked under Section 354 (outraging the modesty), Section 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 342 (wrongful confinement), Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act. "He was later produced in court," said sub-divisional police officer Rajib Lochan Panda.
The court, after rejecting Singh's bail plea, sent him to judicial custody.
Sexual abuse of minor girls have shot up of late with five cases of child rape being reported from Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts in the past fortnight. The offenders in all these cases were either known to the survivors or hailed from the same neighbourhood.
A study of sexual assaults against minor girls reported in the district in the past one year has revealed that in more than 90 per cent of the cases, the offenders were either relatives, acquaintances or belonging to the same community, Panda said.
Temple burglary
Unidentified burglars broke open the sanctum sanctorum of a temple at Charapada village in Rajkanika police limits and decamped with cash from the hundi. The criminals also broke open the box and stole cash. Later, they dumped the box on the backyard of the temple. The burglars have evaded arrest. Search is on to arrest the culprits.
