BENGALURU: A 23-year-old youth has been arrested from Ballari for allegedly raping a minor girl who he had befriended on a social media platform two months ago.

Shivakumar Naik, a technician at a private company in Ballari, got acquainted with the 15-year-old girl from Sriramapura in the city through ShareChat app and they started communicating on a regular basis. Naik conspired to sexually exploit the girl and he arrived in Bengaluru by train on December 23. He informed the girl over chat that he had landed in the city to catch up with his friend and expressed his desire to meet her too.

Without suspecting any foul play, the girl came to Majestic after her school hours. Naik convinced her to accompany him to his friend’s residence in Doddaballapura and promised to drop her home the same evening. He raped her several times in the night and dropped her in Majestic the next day.

The girl returned home and narrated the ordeal to her parents who lodged a complaint with Sriramapura police.

“We’ve registered a case of kidnap and rape under the provision of IPC sections and Pocso Act against Naik. We’ve produced him before the court on Saturday and he is in our custody for further probe,” a police officer said.

Cops are also questioning Naik’s friend to know his involvement in the crime.