A Joypurhat court yesterday sent a man to jail on charges of raping a seven-year-old physically challenged girl in the district's Kalai upazila.

The accused Mehedi Hasan, 27, a neighbour of the victim, was caught red handed on Thursday afternoon while raping the girl, said police.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Iqbal Bahar passed the order to send Mehedi to prison.

Abdul Latif, officer-in-charge of Kalai Police Station, said Mehedi took the girl to his home luring her with food and raped her.

Hearing the girl scream, locals rushed to the spot and caught the accused red handed. Later, he was handed over to police, the OC added.

The victim's father filed a case with Kalai Police Station on Thursday night.

Police rescued the girl and sent her to Joypurhat Modern Hospital for medical tests.