A youth from Gujarat was arrested here for allegedly luring a minor girl to marry him and then harassing her, police said today.
Ravinder Ramesh Thakur (21), from Kapadvanj town in Gujarat's Kheda district, allegedly lured the 16-year-old girl residing there to marry him and brought her to Shirdi on November 12.
He stayed with her at a hotel on Ahmednagar-Manmad road near here for two days and then rented a room in Shirdi town, assistant sub-inspector of police V B Sharma said.
During his stay at the room, Thakur used to have frequent fights in an inebriated state with the girl, he said.
On Wednesday, when the youth went to a liquor bar at Rahata near Shirdi, the girl, who was standing outside, sought help of a woman and went to Rahata Police Station and lodged a complaint of physical and mental harassment against him.
She also managed to talk to her mother over phone from there, Sharma said.
Based on the complaint, Shirdi police arrested the youth on Wednesday night, he said.
The girl's family had also lodged a missing complaint with Kapadvanj Police last month.
Yesterday, a police team from Gujarat arrived here and with the help of local police took the youth to the room where he had been staying with the girl and seized some items from there, he said.
The Gujarat Police then took the youth and the girl to Kapadvanj where they will take appropriate action in the matter, Sharma said.
The accused has been booked under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her to marriage) of the IPC, he added.
