A three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a ragpicker at a railway station in Navi Mumbai. The accused was arrested within hours.

A three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a ragpicker at a railway station in Navi Mumbai, an official from the Government Railway Police said on Monday.

The incident took place at Panvel railway station in the early hours of March 2, when the child was sleeping with her mother in the premises, senior inspector Pravin Padvai of the Panvel GRP said.

The accused picked the girl up, took her aside and raped her. The mother later found the child crying at a distance, he said. The child’s parents approached the police with a complaint against the accused, who was arrested within hours, the official said.

A case under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered against the accused, he said.