UP: Man arrested for kidnapping, raping girl

The family had suspected the involvement of a neighbour in the case, a police spokesperson said.The accused 22, who worked as a labourer in a private company in Greater Noida, had lured the girl into eloping with him to Gujarat where he raped her.

A man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old girl who had gone missing from her home in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida last year, police officials said.

The girl was found recently and reunited with her family. The accused, who lived in the same neighbourhood as the victim, had taken her to Gujarat, they said.

''The girl had gone missing in July 2021 after which her family approached the local Ecotech 3 police station and an FIR was lodged under IPC section 363 (missing). The family had suspected the involvement of a neighbour in the case,'' a police spokesperson said.

''The accused (22), who worked as a labourer in a private company in Greater Noida, had lured the girl into eloping with him to Gujarat where he raped her. The accused had returned here recently and got arrested,'' the official said.

During investigation, charges under IPC sections 366 (kidnapping a woman with intent to compel for marriage), 368 (wrongful confinement), 376 (rape) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) were also added in the FIR, according to the police.

Charges under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have also been invoked in the case against the accused who has been sent to jail, the police added.