A 45-year-old man has been arrested here for allegedly raping his minor stepdaughter, police said on Thursday. According to an official of the Azad Maidan Police Station, the accused and his wife, residents of a slum in south Mumbai, are HIV positive. He allegedly committed the offence when his wife was away earlier this week and warned the girl not to tell anyone.

After the girl narrated the incident to a woman in the neighbourhood, she took the girl to the police station and the case was lodged. The accused was arrested under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 506(2) (criminal intimidation) along with relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Police are awaiting the girl's medical examination report to find out if she has contracted HIV infection, the official said.