Thane:  A man has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the rape of a seven-year-old in Maharashtra ‘s Thane district, police said on Sunday.

The MBVV police apprehended the accused, Rameshkumar Ramraksha Jaiswal (20), in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, an official release stated.

According to the police, the accused allegedly lured a seven-year-old girl with chocolates and ice cream and took her to the terrace of a building in the Mira Road area and raped her on the night of November 3.

Jaiswal fled the spot after the incident and had been absconding.

The girl’s parents lodged a complaint, and a case was registered under sections 64 (rape), 65(2) (rape on a woman under 12 years of age), 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Based on several leads, the probe traced the accused to Uttar Pradesh, it was stated.