Panaji: Three days after a three-year-old girl was allegedly raped in North Goa's Mapusa town, the state police have achieved a breakthrough, arresting a man hailing from Karnataka who was found hiding in Panaji, an official said on Wednesday.
The arrest comes amid another incident of alleged rape of a four-year-old girl in Canacona taluka of Kushavati district. The police have arrested a Bihar native in connection with the second case.
In the Mapusa case, the victim, daughter of a balloon seller, was found crying on Sunday evening outside a building near a taxi stand in the town, 9 km from Panaji, after she was allegedly raped by an unidentified person, according to police.
She was initially rushed to Mapusa District Hospital in a critical condition and later shifted to Goa Medical College and Hospital in Bambolim.
The police have arrested Pundalik Gudge, a native of Dharwad district in Karnataka, in connection with the case, Mapusa Police Inspector Anant Gaonkar told reporters.
The accused allegedly took the girl to an abandoned building and raped her. He was subsequently traced and arrested after being found hiding in Panaji city, Gaonkar said.
The incident had taken place on Diwali night, triggering concern over the safety of children in the coastal state. Police had launched an investigation to trace the accused following the complaint.
In another incident, a four-year-old girl was allegedly raped at Shristhal village in the Canacona taluka of Kushavati district late Tuesday night.
The accused, in his mid-20s and a native of Bihar, was arrested soon after the incident was reported. He had arrived in Goa just two days before the incident and was working at a local bakery, police said.
The identity of the accused in the Canacona case would be disclosed after recording the statements of the victim and her parents, they added.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said such perpetrators have no right to remain in society and will "go behind bars permanently".