Malappuram: In a shocker, a 47-year-old man who allegedly sexually molested his four minor daughters for years was arrested at Valancherry in this north Kerala district, police said on Saturday.

The girls were aged between 10-17 years, police said.

The crime came to light after one of the children revealed to her school teachers about the ordeal she and her sisters had been undergoing at home.

"The teachers and the school authorities informed the Child Protection Unit at Mancherry about the crime, who in turn passed the information to us. Based on the complaint of the four girls, we took the father into custody and recorded his arrest," a senior police official said.

Belonging to a financially backward family, the children were staying and studying at a charitable boarding school at nearby Perinthalmanna and the father allegedly used to abuse them when they came to their rented home during holidays, he said.

The 17-year-old girl, who came back home as she had completed her schooling, was later shifted to the hostel of the same boarding school, the official said, adding their mother was unaware about the harassment.

Four cases have been slapped against the accused under various sections of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Indian Penal Code, the police added.