The POCSO court ordered the accused to be placed under judicial custody for 14 days. (Representational)
A 45-year-old man, accused of raping a teenage girl, was caught in the Chambal forests and later sent to judicial custody on Monday, the police said.
The accused had kidnapped the minor girl from her village in Kota district on Saturday and allegedly raped her in the Chambal forests. The girl was, however, rescued the same day while the accused managed to flee from the forests. He was later arrested on Sunday.
The victim's mother, under local police station area, lodged a case of kidnap of her minor daughter against the 45-year-old man from the village, identified as Gobrilal Meena (45), police station official Ramavtar Sharma said.
Two police teams rescued the minor girl later on Saturday from the forests of Chambal while the accused was taking her on a motorbike. Upon noticing the police teams chasing him, the accused escaped from the spot leaving the girl and the motorcycle behind, Mr Sharma said.
Later, the girl gave a statement to the police on Sunday disclosing that she had been raped by the accused in the forests after she was kidnapped.
The police incorporated punishment for rape and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act into the case and sent the survivor for a medical examination on the same day.
Meena was caught in the Chambal forests on Monday evening, Mr Sharma said, adding that the accused admitted to have raped the minor girl when he was interrogated.
The accused underwent a potency test following which he was produced before the POCSO court that ordered him to be placed under judicial custody for 14 days.
Mr Sharma further said that the accused has been sent to New Medical College Hospital in Kota for collecting his samples for COVID-19 test and would be sent to jail after receiving the report.