The police in Alipurduar district have arrested a 36-year-old man for the alleged rape and attempted murder of a 62-year-old woman.

The accused, Birman Bhujel, was produced in court on Wednesday.

The accused was sent to judicial custody for 10 days.

The incident occurred on Monday while the elderly woman was alone at home, with the rest of her family out visiting Kali Puja pandals.

Bhujel, her neighbour, entered her house and allegedly attempted to rape her. In the resultant scuffle, he caused severe injury to her lips before fleeing the scene.

The woman’s son rushed home upon hearing the news and immediately took her to the Alipurduar district hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment.

A complaint was lodged at the Jaigaon police station late on Tuesday night, almost 24 hours after the attack.

The police promptly arrested the accused, who was presented before the chief judicial magistrate’s court on Wednesday afternoon.

According to police sources, Bhujel is a repeat offender.

Earlier, he was arrested and was in jail for seven years for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl. He was recently released on bail.

“Based on the complaint, we arrested the accused person immediately, and he was produced in court on Wednesday. Investigation is in progress,” said Y. Raghuvamshi, the Alipurduar district police chief.

In recent times, this is the second case of sexual assualt on an old woman in Bengal. A sexagenarian was raped at her home by three drunken youths on Ashtami night at Kultali in South 24-Parganas. Her family members had also gone pandal-hopping.