Jajpur: Police on Thursday booked a youth on charges of attempting to rape a 16-year-old girl at Routarapur village in the district.

The accused has been identified as Ganesh Chandra Sahoo, 25, of the same village.

The incident took place on Wednesday evening when the girl had gone to the village field to answer the nature's call.

Finding her alone there, Sahoo dragged her to a nearby bush and tried to rape her. When the girl resisted, Sahoo allegedly tried to strangulate her. But, the girl managed to flee the spot, rushed back home and told her mother everything. On Wednesday night, her family members lodged a complaint at Dharmasala police station.

Sahoo has fled the village, while the police have launched a manhunt.

"We have registered a case under various sections of the IPC and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012. We have launched a manhunt to arrest Sahoo as he has fled the village soon after the crime," said Dharmasala police station inspector-in-charge Umakanta Nayak.

The girl was medically examined at district headquarters hospital in Jajpur on Thursday.

Two held

Police on Thursday arrested two men for allegedly stealing goats from Deulasahi village in Raghunathpur police limits of Jagatsinghpur. Nilamani Dalai and Sangram Swain confessed to their crime during interrogation and said they had stolen over a dozen goats in the past week and sold them off to butchers, the police said.