The Jammu and Kashmir police have launched a search operation to nab a 30-year-old man who had allegedly kidnapped and raped a minor girl from Pattan in Baramulla district.
Police said the accused Abdul Rouf Bhat and his friends on Wednesday abducted and raped a 13-year-old girl. They fled after the incident.
A Srinagar-based police spokesman said the victim was referred to a sub-district hospital for medical examination, where doctors confirmed rape.
"The accused has gone underground. We are trying to ascertain the identity of his associates, who hail from south Kashmir," the spokesman said.
Alleging that the accused had earlier molested a girl, but was not arrested due to "political pressure", residents of the area staged a protest and demanded stern action against him.
In another incident, details of which are awaited, a minor girl was allegedly raped by a school guard. Police sources said an eight-year-old girl from Bihar, currently living in Greater Kailash under Gungyal police station, was playing outside her house when she was allegedly kidnapped by Sansar Chand of Langer, Kunjwani in Jammu, working as a security guard in a school.