Labourer rapes four-and-half-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Palghar; held

Palghar: A labourer has been arrested for allegedly raping a four-and-half-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Friday.

The police on Thursday arrested the 19-year-old accused in connection with the incident that occurred in Jawhar taluka on Wednesday.

The child's parents were at work, and she was home with her grandparents when the accused allegedly entered her house and sexually assaulted her, an official said.

The accused was a labourer involved in cable laying work in the victim's locality, the official said.

The child informed her mother about the assault the next day, following which a complaint was lodged with the police, he said.

The accused has been arrested under section 64 (rape) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said.

Following the incident, local activists from various political parties and social organisations from Jawhar and Mokhada staged a protest, demanding capital punishment for the accused.