A 14-year-old tribal girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a 40-year-old man in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Sunday in Bhiwandi taluka and the accused was arrested on Wednesday, they said.
The parents of the victim, belonging to neighbouring Palghar district, worked at a brick kiln and a family acquaintance had taken to girl to his house in Bhiwandi for doing domestic work, police said.
On Sunday, the accused, who knew the girl, told the family where she was working that he will take her to her parents' home in Palghar on his motorbike.
However, when the duo reached near Angaon village, the accused took the girl to a lodge where he allegedly raped her, an official from Bhiwandi taluka police station said.
When the girl tried to raise an alarm, the accused beat her up and also warned her of dire consequences if she informed about the incident to anyone, the official said, adding that the man later dropped the victim at her parents' home.
The girl subsequently informed about the offence to her parents who lodged a police complaint with the help of an NGO on Tuesday night, he said.
The accused was arrested on Wednesday and booked under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official said.
The victim was sent to a children's home in Bhiwandi, he added.
