Kanpur, Jul 10 (IANS): A man, accused of abducting and raping a teenage girl, allegedly swallowed a lizard in police custody in Kanpur because he did not want to go to jail.

The incident came to light after the condition of the man worsened and the police took him to Bhitargaon community health centre from where the doctors referred him to Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital.

On June 14, the girl’s father, resident of a village in the Sadh police station area, had informed the police that his 18-year-old daughter had been taken away by one of their women relatives.

Police registered a case on the father's complaint and started investigating the matter.

Police later traced the location of the girl to Bengaluru.

A police team caught a man and rescued the girl on Sunday.

During interrogation, the man identified himself as Mahesh Kumar, 24, a resident of Kishanpur village in Fatehpur district.

In the statement given by the girl to the police, she said that she was abducted and raped.

Later, the accused, Mahesh, caught and ate the lizard while in lockup.