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

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

Police surrounded Sanju late Wednesday night, a day after he allegedly raped a child from his village, but he opened fire in an attempt to flee, wounding an officer. He also suffered a bullet wound in retaliatory fire by police, they said.

The suspect was rushed to a hospital where he was declared 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 through part of the roof on Tuesday evening and allegedly raped her near a tubewell in a field.

When the family could not find the girl in the house, they started 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 is 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 Offenses (POCSO) Act.