Man accused of raping 4-year-old girl caught after police encounter in UP

A man who was on the run after allegedly raping a four-year-old girl was arrested following an encounter here with police, officials said on Thursday.

Police surrounded Sanju late Wednesday night, a day after he allegedly raped a child from his village, but he opened fire in a bid to flee injuring a constable. He, too, received a bullet injury in retaliatory firing by police, they said.

The accused was rushed to a hospital where he was declared to be stable, Superintendent of Police Rajesh S told PTI.

During initial interrogation, Sanju told police that he picked up the child while she was sleeping, after entering the house from a portion of the roof on Tuesday night, and allegedly raped her near a tubewell in a field.

When the family could not find the girl in the house, they began a search and found her in the field, 1 km away from the village, on Wednesday morning.

Police reached the spot and rushed the girl to the Government Medical College where her condition was said to be stable, the SP said.

Based on the family's complaint, a case was registered against the accused under sections 331(4) (house trespass at night), 137(2) (kidnapping), 65(2) (rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.