A 19-year-old carpenter only identified as Oluman has been arrested by police at Awuni camp, a farming community within the Bia West District of the Western region for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old Junior High School (JHS) student.

The suspect, who fled the community after the act, was arrested on Thursday afternoon from his hideout after a complaint was lodged by relations of the victim when they realized she had suffered bruises as a result.

Suspect Oluman in his caution statement to the police claimed he proposed love to the girl and thought she had agreed which subsequently led to him inviting her to a secret place and having carnal knowledge of her.

But the victim (name withheld) in contrast said the suspect forcibly had sex with her at a nearby bush when he asked her to accompany him search for her younger sister.

Police indicate that he will soon be arraigned before court and provisionally charged with defilement.