india

Updated: Dec 28, 2016 18:37 IST

A garment shop salesman was arrested on charges of sexually harassing a 16-year-old girl from New Zealand when she was trying on a dress at a shop at Cantt area here in Varanasi, police said on Wednesday.

Durga Prasad Yadav was arrested for sexually harassing the girl at a shop inside the hotel where she was staying at Mall Road on Tuesday, they said.

The accused has been booked under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC and provision 12 (sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Circle Officer Raj Kumar Yadav said.

A complaint was registered by the hotel management with the Cantt police station after the girl told her friends and tour guide about the incident, police said.

The victim was part of a group of girls from New Zealand, who are on an educational tour in India for cultural studies, and were staying at the hotel, the CO said.