HYDERABAD: In a ghastly incident, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 27-year old auto driver on Thursday morning here at Singareni colony of Saidabad. Police registered a case against the accused under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with relevant sections of the Pocso Act.

Not surprisingly, the accused, who has been arrested, happens to be known to her. The victim is a Class VII student of Government High School in Vikarabad. Her mother, a widow, stays at Singareni Colony with her paramour Amjad, 27, an auto driver. Recently, the victim came to visit her mother. At 11 am, when the victim’s mother left home, Amjad allegedly raped the girl and fled. Neighbors noticed the girl crying and informed to her mother.

The victim later informed about the offence to her mother, who lodged a complaint with police. Police sent the victim for a medical examination and held Amjad.

“The accused, said to be the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, allegedly raped the girl when she came to the city to meet her mother yesterday after learning that she was suffering from fever,” Saidabad police station inspector A Srinivas Rao said. “The girl, who studies at a school in Parigi, had come to Hyderabad yesterday.”

“The girl’s mother had gone out for some work. Finding the girl alone at the house, the accused Amjad allegedly raped her,” Rao said, based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother. Amjad is the paramour of the woman, who is a widow. He had developed a relationship with the woman who was staying with him in his house for the past four years, police said, adding that further probe was on.