Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police has arrested a youth on charges of raping and impregnating a minor girl in the Odisha capital here.

Shree Lingaraj police in the city here have arrested accused Sitaram Palei aka Guna/Muna Palei (20), son of Sanatan Palei of Tikarapada under Belguntha police limits in Ganjam, from Surat in Gujarat.

According to police, the accused had developed a relationship with a 13-year-old girl from Nayagarh while residing in the city here around a year ago.

The girl’s parents were daily wagers and staying in the Old Town area of the capital city.

The accused allegedly kept physical relation with the minor girl several times on the promise of marriage. He, however, ditched the girl after she got impregnated, police said.

The accused and his family members had left the city when the girl’s family raised the issue before them. The girl’s father had lodged a complaint in this regard with Shree Lingaraj police.

The police registered a case under Sections 376 (2) and 376 (3) of the IPC and relevant Sections of the POCSO Act and launched a probe into the incident.

“The accused had absconded soon after the girl’s family lodged a police complaint. We have arrested him from Surat. The accused has confessed to the crime during interrogation,” said a police officer.