Bengaluru, 4 July

An eight-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a shopkeeper when she went to buy a packet of chips, police said here on Friday.

The incident occurred on Thursday at around 8 pm in Bagalakunte police station limits, they said.

Following the incident, the accused shopkeeper was arrested.

According to police, the girl went to the shop near her house to buy a packet of chips. When she asked the 25-year-old shopkeeper for a packet of chips, he said he would have to bring it from the godown which was beside the shop.

In her complaint, the victim alleged that on the pretext of giving her chips, he took her to the godown and touched her private parts, a senior police officer said.

She came home with the chips packet and started crying. When her aunt asked her the reason, she narrated her ordeal, he said.

The girl's parents immediately approached the police with a complaint following which a case of aggravated sexual assault was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the shopkeeper was arrested, he added.