An 18-year-old partially sighted girl was today raped allegedly by an auto-rickshaw driver, who has been arrested, police said.
The girl, a plus-two student and an orphan living in a charity home, was raped by the 48-year-old auto-rickshaw driver Harikrishnan. She had boarded the auto-rickshaw for a short journey from near Thampanoor bus stand to the East Fort, they said.
Realising that the girl was partially sighted, the auto driver took her to an isolated place instead of to East Fort area in the heart of the city where she wanted to go.
After raping the girl, the man took her in the auto for abandoning here in some isolated place.
However, a woman passerby, who saw the girl being taken in the auto, grew suspicious, noted the vehicle number and informed the city police, who gave alert message to police in all parts of city and spotted the vehicle, police said.
The girl was taken to the hospital and after a medical test, sent back to the charity home.
The auto driver has been charged under IPC Sections 376 (rape) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting).
