Simdega, Dec 12 (PTI) An imam was arrested for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl at a madrasa in Jharkhand's Simdega district, police said on Monday.

The incident happened when the girl went to the madrasa on Sunday for Urdu lessons, Kolebira police station officer-in-charge Ranjit Kumar said.

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The imam, 43, sent the other pupils home, and took the girl to his room on the campus where he allegedly raped her, the officer said.

After the rape, he allegedly threatened the girl and told her that a jinn has possessed him, police said.

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The girl returned home in tears and narrated the incident to her parents who then lodged a police complaint.

She said that the imam had allegedly raped her even two months ago, but she could not tell them out of fear, according to police.

Police said they arrested the accused under IPC section 376 (rape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)