According to the complaint lodged by the girl’s family, she was abducted by the youth, who had been harassing her for the past one-and-half years, while she was walking to her tuition class on Friday.

“The accused, who was in a car, allegedly tied her hands and took her to a deserted area where he raped her. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone before dropping her near her home later that night. The girl did not tell anyone about the matter at first. On Saturday, she tried to hang herself at home when the family found that and lodged a police complaint. After the FIR was registered, the accused was arrested for rape and booked under POCSO Act,” said a police officer, adding the medical examination of the girl is scheduled for Monday.

According to the family, the youth had been harassing her for one-and-a-half years. “An arbitration meeting was held in the area a few months ago where he admitted the mistake and apologised,” a family member said and demanded death penalty for the accused after a fast-track trial.

Local BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, who accompanied the girl’s family to the police station on Saturday night to file the complaint, said: “I came to the police station after hearing the news of the incident. Spoke with the police officers. The accused should be punished regardless of who he is.”

Local TMC office-bearer Prasenjit Ghosh rejected the BJP’s charge that the girl’s family was intimidated by the ruling party. “The BJP is lying. The police arrested the accused after receiving the complaint. The law will follow its course. The Trinamool did not interfere in this matter and it won’t,” Ghosh said.