THANE: A labourer has been arrested for allegedly raping a seven-year-old girl at a construction site in Maharashtra's Thane city, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in the Naupada area of the city on Monday evening, and the 45-year-old accused was nabbed within hours of the crime, an official said.

He said that the child's parents and the accused were labourers at the construction site.

According to the police, the accused took the girl aside and allegedly sexually assaulted her. The distressed child informed her parents about the assault.

Her parents rushed to the police and lodged a complaint, following which a case under sections 64(1)(rape), 65(2)(raping a girl under 12 years of age) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered, the official said.