Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala:
An 18-year-old partially blind girl was today raped allegedly by an auto-rickshaw driver, who has been arrested, police said.
The girl, a plus-two student and an orphan living in a charity home, was raped by the 48-year-old auto-rickshaw driver Harikrishnan. She had boarded the auto-rickshaw for a short journey from near the Thampanoor bus stand to the East Fort, they said.
Realising that the girl was partially blind, the auto driver took her to an isolated place instead of to East Fort area in the heart of the city where she wanted to go.
After raping the girl, the man took her in the auto and abandoned her in an isolated place.
However, a woman passer-by, who saw the girl being taken in the auto, grew suspicious, noted the vehicle number and informed the city police, who gave an alert message to police in all parts of the city and spotted the vehicle, police said.
The girl was taken to the hospital and after a medical test, was sent back to the charity home.
The auto driver has been charged under IPC Sections 376 (rape) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting).