Bantwal : The Bantwal Town police on Saturday arrested four persons on the charge of raping a minor girl. Lodge manager who provided the lodge also sexually harassed the girl.

While two had allegedly raped the girl in a Mangaluru lodge on Friday, one allegedly molested her besides providing a lodge room to commit the offence and another accused had allegedly engaged in sexual chat with the 16-year-old.

According to Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Sonawane, separate teams were formed to nab the accused soon after the girl reported the incident to the police on Friday. K.S. Sharath Shetty, a resident of Kaup, Maruthi Manjunath, Lodge Sathish, and Hidayatulla have been arrested.

Mr. Sonawane said Sharath Shetty had befriended the girl on Facebook and was in touch with her regularly over phone. He then introduced the girl to his relative Maruthi Manjunath who developed intimacy with her and indulged in sexual chat over WhatsApp.

Sharath on October 8 asked the victim to visit Mangaluru and she met him near City Mall. After convincing the girl, Sharath allegedly took her to a lodge in the city and raped her. Later, he invited his friend Hidayatulla to the lodge and the latter too raped her. Sathish, another accused, had provided Sharath and the girl a room to stay at the lodge and had also allegedly molested the girl. The girl later returned to Bantwal in a bus.

The police have booked them under sections 366(a)(Abduction), 376(D)(rape), 506 of the Indian Penal Code and POCSO Act.