A minor girl consumed poison after she was allegedly raped by a man in the Gagha area here, police said on Friday.

The girl has been hospitalised and her condition is said to be stable, they added. The girl had gone missing on Monday and when she reached home on Tuesday, she told family members that she, on the pretext of marriage, was kidnapped by her neighbour Modassir Ansari from Gajpur Bazar and allegedly raped her with the help of his friends Akhtar and Atiullah, police said.

Later she tried to end her life by consuming poison, they said. A case under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her mar­riage) and 376 (rape) of the IPC and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against Ansari at Gagha police station on Thursday, SSP Sunil Kumar Gupta said. Akthar and Atiuallh were also booked under sections 363 and 366 of the IPC and and under the POCSO Act, he said.

During the initial investigation, we found that Ansari married to the girl at an Arya Samaj temple, the SSP said. Both are neighbours and know each other for a very long time, he added. We have also questioned the temple's priest who conducted their marriage. However, the investigation is at the initial stage and things will become clear after some time. Gupta said.