An autorickshaw driver has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a 16-year-old minor girl in Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district.

According to the police, the survivor used to travel for daily wage work along with other labourers in an autorickshaw of the accused, identified as Fayaz, 33, a resident of Magdampur village in Chincholi taluk. The two had become acquainted during commutes.

In her formal complaint, the survivor’s mother stated that on August 5, the accused telephoned the girl, asking her to meet him near the village gate, from where he drove her to Zaheerabad in Telangana in his autorickshaw.

Later in the evening, he took her to a room belonging to a friend. When the minor insisted on returning home that night, the accused allegedly threatened her with dire consequences and sexually assaulted her. The next morning, the accused dropped her off near Konchavaram village and fled the scene.

The matter came to light after the girl narrated her ordeal to relatives, prompting her mother to approach the police. The Konchavaram police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the POCSO Act, and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

The police have spread the dragnet to apprehend the absconding accused.