Balasore: Soro police have arrested three persons in connection with the rape of a minor girl and a molestation case, both of which took place on Friday night.

The arrested persons are Mahinda Malik, 28, of Purushottampur village in Soro police station area, Jagannath Kabata, 25, of Suana village in Basudevpur police station area and Dipti Nayak, 23, of Sujitnagar village in Basudevpur police station area.

Malik was arrested in connection with rape of a seven-year-old girl.

Malik, who used to work as a helper in a tent house, raped the girl after taking her to a secluded place offering her some food on Friday night.

The girl was alone at that time as her parents had gone to attend a marriage ceremony.

"The accused committed the offence near a lift irrigation point in the village, which is a desolate place. The girl had external injuries in her private parts. She narrated her trauma to her parents when they returned from the wedding. Her mother then decided to lodge a police compliant. Medical examinations were carried out on both the victim and the accused," said inspector in charge of Soro police station Dillip Sahu .

He added that the accused has been booked under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He was forwarded to court on Sunday where his bail plea was rejected.

In the other case, Kabata and Nayak were forwarded to court on Sunday after being booked for molesting a woman.

The accused duo, along with six others, had molested women of another marriage party allegedly in an inebriated condition near Anantapur on Friday night.

"The processions of both the marriage parties were crossing each other near Anantapur when the incident occurred. The accused persons entered into the bus in which the victims of the other marriage party were sitting and molested them. Soon, a complaint was lodged against them," said Rout.

"The accused duo were forwarded to court after being booked under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code," he said. The court rejected his bail plea.