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A man allegedly kidnapped a 15-year-old girl from a village here and took her to Himachal Pradesh where he raped her for almost three months, police said on Tuesday.
The police rescued the teenager on Monday and arrested the 26-year-old accused after he returned to Ballia with the girl, they said.
The accused, who hails from Nepal's Parsa district and worked in Himachal Pradesh, had befriended the girl on social media, the police said.
The minor went missing on January 29 and on the basis of her mother's complaint, a case was registered against unknown persons under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code, they said.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Dev Ranjan Verma said the police rescued the girl from the accused on Monday.
In the statement given to the police , the girl said Pritam Yadav, the accused, befriended her on social media and had come to her village to meet her.
Yadav later allegedly abducted the teenager and took her to Himachal Pradesh where he raped her for almost three months, the SP said citing the victim.
Based on the minor's statement, Section 376 (2) (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have been added to the case, he said.
The SP added that the police arrested the accused from Ratsar town here on Monday.
