A 27-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly drugging, raping and threatening a 10-year-old girl in east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar, police said on Monday. The man and the girl are residents of the same building.

Police said the man had been sexually exploiting the girl for the past four-five months. His crime was discovered when the girl told her parents about it on Saturday who then approached New Ashok Nagar police on Sunday.

“We registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and arrested the man. He works with a private company,” said DCP (east) Jasmeet Singh.

Police said the girl lives with her family while the suspect was lived with his brother.

The girl often visited the accused man’s room to play. Her family members, in their complaint, alleged that around five months ago, the girl went to the suspect’s room and found him taking a bath. They alleged he came out of the bathroom and gave her a glass of soft drink to drink.

“The girl fell unconscious after drinking it and the man forced himself on her. When she regained consciousness, he threatened to kill her and her family members if she told anybody about the incident,” said a police officer.

Police said the girl’s family said she was so scared that she did not tell anybody about it.

The man allegedly took advantage of her fear and exploited the girl several times in the last four or five months, the officer said.

Around a week ago, the officer said, the suspect allegedly raped the girl again because of which she was in pain. She then told her mother about it.

First Published: Feb 19, 2019 09:31 IST