CHENNAI: A 32-year-old man, a casual labourer, was arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl at his house in Perungudi after luring her on the pretext of a relationship and promising marriage.
The girl and her younger brother were living with their grandmother while their father was working in a stone quarry in Andhra Pradesh after his wife separated from him.
On February 6, the girl left home and did not return after which the grandmother informed her father, who rushed to Chennai and lodged a missing person complaint with the Washermenpet police station.
After investigations with the girl's friends and relatives, the police traced a mobile phone number and went to a house in Perungudi where they found the girl.
Police learned that she was kept in the house by Praveen (32), the labourer who met the girl while she was roaming aimlessly near Tiruvottiyur High Road and offered to help her. Praveen had sexual relationship with the girl, investigations revealed.
Police rescued the girl and arrested Praveen. Police also arrested Praveen's associate, Vijayakumar (52), for aiding him. They were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.