One held for rape of Russian girl in India's Goa

The Indian police Friday arrested one man in connection with the rape of a 9-year-old Russian girl in the seaside resort of Goa, DPA reported.

Police named two suspects, both in their early thirties, who worked at in an industrial estate not far from Arambol beach where the incident happened on Tuesday.

While one of the men engaged her in conversation, the other took the girl towards the water and assaulted her, the mother said in her complaint to the police.

"One of the two men, Anil Raghuvanshi, has been arrested," said Ravinder Yadav, deputy inspector general of police.

Yadav said according to the complaint, Raghuvanshi distracted the mother, while the second man, Aman Bharadwaj, assaulted the girl.

The police are still looking for Bharadwaj.

There have been several assaults on foreigners, especially Russians, in the popular Indian resort in recent years.

A 25-year-old Russian woman was raped by a Goan politician in December 2009.

The mutilated body of a 19-year-old Russian girl was found on the railway tracks in the Thivim area near Goa's capital Panaji in May 2009.

In February 2008, the body of 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling from Britain was found on Anjuna beach.

The Russian embassy has issued a statement demanding the severest punishment for the 9-year-old's rapist and warned that if such crimes targeting its citizens were not checked, it would ask Russian tourists to stop visiting Goa.

Goa's police has come under flak in the past from rights groups and the media for failing to act speedily on rape charges.