KOCHI: A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a security guard , aged 63, of the day-care centre where her parents had entrusted the child, police said on Sunday, a day after arresting the man.The incident came to light days after a toddler, Adhav (2), had walked out of another child-care centre at Kaintaikara and drowned in the River Periyar on Wednesday last. No one had noticed the child leaving the premises through an open gate.Identifying the alleged culprit as Chandrashekharan Neelakandan of Murithattil House at Makaliyam, Irumbanam, police said he had taken the child to a deserted place in the day-care centre at Thrikkakara on November 3 and committed the crime.“The girl was playing alone in the nursery’s compound when the accused gestured her to go near him. He allegedly made her sit on his lap and indulged in an inappropriate act,” a senior police officer said.After reaching home, the girl complained of pain in her genitals. Her parents took her to a private hospital, where she told the doctors of the incident at school.Based on a complaint by the child’s mother, the police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences ( POCSO ) Act. The accused was arrested from the day-care centre on Saturday evening.Police were now investigating whether the day-care management had tried to sweep the incident under the carpet.“The centre had not taken any action against its employee,” police said.Neelakandan was presented before the judicial first class magistrate court in Kakkanad and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.The chairperson of the child welfare commission , Padmaja Nair, termed the recurrence of such incidents “unfortunate.”“Most day-care centres operate without licence. The government should ensure that these centres have licences, besides implementing a proper mechanism to monitor the centres,” she said.In the Kaintaikara drowning case, police had arrested two nuns and a helper of St Mary’s Convent, which operated the child-care centre.