A 21-year-old youth was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a minor girl after promising to marry her, in Maharajganj district, police said.

It is alleged that Ankit Verma and the 17-year-old girl had an affair. The accused had promised to marry the girl and established a physical relationship with her, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police (Sadar) Abha Singh.

An FIR in this regard was registered against the accused three months ago at Sinduriya police station of Maharajganj district under relevant sections of the BNS and POCSO Act and he was arrested on Sunday.

A detailed investigation is going on in the matter.

Meanwhile, three people died of suffocation in a well in Banda district on Sunday. The incident took place in Bara village in Bisanda police station area of Baberu tehsil.

Reports said that the slippers of Anil Patel, 40) of the same locality fell into a dry well on Sunday afternoon. The family members said that Anil jumped into the well to take out his slippers. When Anil did not come out for a long time, people around saw Sandeep Verma (19) and Bala Verma, 21), both kin, go inside the well to take him out. However, all three fainted due to suffocation.

PC Patel, a relative of Amit, said that there was poisonous gas in that well, because whoever went down suffocated.

After a lot of hard work, the police administration took out all three and sent them to hospital where the doctors pronounced all three dead.

Banda district’s Additional Superintendent of Police Shivraj, who visited the spot, said, “Prima facie it appears that there must have been poisonous gas in the muddy well, due to which all three died.”

ADM Rajesh Kumar confirmed the deaths.