A 68-year old priest has been arrested by the Bengaluru police for allegedly raping a minor girl inside the premises of a temple, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

The accused has been identified as Venkataramanappa, a resident of Chikkaballapura in Karnataka. He was looking after the temple in the absence of his son-in-law, who is also employed as a priest and had to move out of the city for a while, according to The Hindu. The son-in-law’s house is inside the temple premises itself.

CK Baba, Bengaluru’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast), said that the accused saw the minor playing outside the temple on Tuesday evening and allegedly lured her by promising to give food items, according to The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the minor’s mother started looking for her after she did not return home till evening, when a flower vendor who sits outside the temple told her that he saw her going to the priest’s house, the police officer said.

The minor was found outside the priest’s house and she narrated the incident after her mother went there along with her neighbours.

“Based on CCTV camera footage, medical report and the flower vendor’s statement, Venkatramanappa was arrested on Wednesday,” Baba said, according to The Indian Express.

He said that the priest has been booked under various Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and also under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code.