Manali: Accused of custodial rape, Fateh Chand, a resident of Bashkola village near Manai, was arrested in Kangra district and remanded to police custody after the culprit was produced before a judicial magistrate.
Fateh Chand is accused of raping his niece, who is a minor.
After a case was registered, the rapist had gone missing and was only nabbed after a manhunt was launched.
A police team from Manali managed to catch up the accused at a construction site at Sahan village, near Baijnath on Sunday and arrested him. Fateh Chand (45) was working as a daily wager at the site.
He is accused of first having raped a 13 year old minor orphan five months ago and then resorted to repeating the crime several times.
It was only when the girl became pregnant that the case of sexual exploitation surfaced.
The girl is said to have lost her parents some year ago and she was staying with her maternal grandfather at Bashkola village.
A non government organization (NGO) Child Line from Aleo came forward to help the girl and did get the case registered.
Sanjay Dutta, an engineer by qualification but is a journalist by choice.
He has worked for the premier new agency Press Trust of India and leading English daily Indian Express.
With more than a decade of experience, he has been highlighting issues related to environment, tourism and other aspects affecting mountain ecology.
Sanjay Dutta lives in a village close to Manali in Kullu valley of Himachal.
