Kolkata, Apr 25 (IANS): A man was arrested on Monday for raping a differently-abled minor girl in West Bengal's West Midnapore district.

The accused, Sheikh Anwar Ali (40), is a resident of a village under Debra police station.

According to a district police source, Ali was arrested after a complaint was lodged against him by the victim's mother. It has been learnt that on April 22, the victim was sent by her mother to a local grocery shop to make some purchases.

Finding her alone, the accused took the victim to his residence nearby and raped her. The mother, who went out to look for her daughter, after she didn't return home for a long time, suddenly saw her standing outside Ali's residence in a distressed state.

By that time, Ali had run away through the backdoor of his house. On April 23, the victim's mother learnt she was raped and filed a complaint with the police.

The police filed charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012 against the accused.

A number of incidences of rape, some of which involve minors, have been reported in West Bengal during the last one month. The most talked about case was the rape of a minor girl, who died in Hanskhali in Nadia district earlier this month. The son of a local Trinamool Congress leader is the main accused in this case.

The incident became more controversial after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a love-angle twist to the incident. The matter is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following an order by a division bench of the Calcutta High Court.