A constable in the BJP ruled state Uttar Pradesh Police allegedly abducted and raped a seven-year-old girl from his locality in Greater Noida, police said on Thursday.

The constable, 45-year-old Subhash Singh, posted in the sales tax department in Gautam Budh Nagar, was beaten by locals before being handed to the police.

He has been booked under the stringent Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Police said the incident occurred at around 3pm on Wednesday in Greater Noida’s Surajpur locality, where the accused and the victim live in adjacent buildings. The victim’s mother, a single parent, works as a labourer in a factory.

“He took the child forcibly to his apartment. People heard her screaming and rushed to Singh’s house. They rescued the girl, but he managed to run away,” a neighbour said.

“When he returned at around 4am, two women spotted him and raised the alarm,” the neighbour added.

A video clip of a mob of more than 100 people beating the accused has surfaced on social media gone viral.

“We received a complaint from the victim’s mother on Wednesday evening about the alleged rape of the seven-year-old girl.

The next morning, we got information that a mob had caught the accused. We reached the spot and arrested him at around 8 am,” said Akhilesh Pradhan, the station house officer at Surajpur police station.

“The child has been sent to the district hospital in Noida for medical tests. The report is awaited,” Pradhan said.