PUDUCHERRY: Police arrested a 52-year-old construction worker on charges of molesting a four-year-old girl in Puducherry on Monday.Police said T Balakrishnan from Moorthikuppam on the outskirts of the Union territory lured the girl with chocolates while she was playing near her house. He allegedly took her to a secluded place and molested her. When she began to cry, he left her near her house and escaped. The girl narrated to her parents the ordeal she had undergone.

Her parents and neighbours came to know that the girl was last seen in the company of Balakrishnan. They traced him and assaulted him after he said to have admitted to molesting the girl.

They alerted the Kirumampakkam police. A team of policemen reached the spot and took him for inquiries. Police registered a case under Section 8 of (punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (PCSOA) 2012 and arrested him.

They produced him before a local court that remanded him in judicial custody. The girl was sent to Rajiv Gandhi Government Women and Children Hospital where she underwent a series of medical examinations to ascertain whether she was molested. Police will seek the permission of the court to subject the accused to medical examinations.

If convicted, Balakrishnan shall be punished with imprisonment of either for a term ranging from three years to five years and shall also be fined.