Patna: A seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 30-year-old drug addict at a village in Saharsa district on Sunday evening. The incident took place around 4pm when the child had gone to pick fruits from a mango orchard located about 500 meters from her home.Police identified the accused as Lalit Sada, a local resident and neighbor of the victim. He was arrested from the village on Sunday night, taken for medical examination and remanded to judicial custody on Monday. Lalit, a married daily wage worker, is addicted to drugs, police said.Five days before the incident, he allegedly assaulted his wife, following which she left for her parental home with their two children — a three-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.According to the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother, the accused approached the child in the orchard and attempted to lure her to a nearby corn field. When she resisted, he allegedly took her there forcibly and committed the crime before fleeing the spot.The child later returned home in a traumatized condition and informed her family about the entire incident, following which the police were alerted. She was rushed to a hospital, where her medical examination was conducted and treatment initiated.Senior police officials, including Simri Bakhtiyarpur SDPO Mukesh Kumar Thakur, visited the spot for investigation. A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also collected evidence from the site. SDPO Thakur said, “An FIR has been registered at the Saharsa women’s police station under relevant sections of law for the rape of a minor.”
