2 held for sexual assault of minor on pretext of showing movie

Hyderabad: Two youths have been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl after taking her to a vacant building complex on the pretext of showing her a movie at a cinema hall here, police said on Monday.

The duo, aged between 23 and 25, and the minor live in the same locality. One of them worked as a delivery rider with an online food aggregator, the police said. The accused lured the girl and her eight-year-old cousin last Saturday, saying they would show them a movie. Instead, they took them on their motorcycle to a building complex in Saidabad area that had been lying vacant, according to the police.

The youths then took the girls to the cellar of the complex and allegedly sexually assaulted the 11-year old girl, Saidabad police station Inspector K V L Narasimha Rao said. The food delivery rider left the place after "committing the crime", while the other was seen by some locals with the two girls when he was coming out of the building, the police said. The local people caught him after they grew suspicious and handed him over to the police before "assaulting" him, the inspector said.

Based on the minor's statement, a case of kidnap and rape was registered against the two under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said. The girl was sent for medical examination. Both the accused were arrested Sunday and sent to judicial custody, the officer added.