MUMBAI: A five-year-old girl was abducted and allegedly raped at Goregaon east by her father’s acquaintance on Tuesday. The accused, Laxman Gupta, had a dispute with the victim’s parents. He has been arrested.

The victim and her parents reside in a chawl at Santosh Nagar. Gupta, who works in a grocery store, was acquainted with the victim’s father for the past six years. Both men hail from the same village in Uttar Pradesh. The girl’s father runs a provision store.

Around 5.30 pm on Tuesday, Gupta, 22, barged into the victim’s house. He assaulted the girl’s mother and dragged her daughter away from her. He then carried the victim to his house in the same neighbourhood where she was raped. The girl’s father was away at the time of the incident and her mother could not come to her rescue.

The girl later returned to her house on her own. She had sustained injuries to her private parts and was injured. She was taken to a hospital to Jogeshwari and later shifted to the KEM Hospital where she was examined.

A complaint was lodged by the girl's father following which, Gupta was arrested. He has been charged under sections 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 452 (house trespass), 323 (causing hurt) of the IPC besides relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.

Gupta was produced before a sessions court which remanded him to police custody till November 10.