Tirthahalli: Man held for alleged forced marriage with minor

Tirthahalli: A man was arrested by the police here for allegedly forcibly marrying and raping a young woman.

The man, a security guard at Tunga College in Tirthahalli, had forced a 17-year-old girl to come with him to a temple near the town and married her there on June 11.

Later he took her to a friend’s house on Aargha Road in the town and allegedly raped her there.

After a complaint registered by the girl and her parents, police conducted a search for the man and found him hiding in a plantation near the town.

A case under POCSO Act has been registered against him.