A man lodged a kidnapping complaint after his teenage daughter went missing, but later it turned out he had been allegedly sexually assaulting her for the last five years and she left home in Mumbai to escape the ordeal, police have said.

Police arrested the 46-year-old accused on Thursday and booked him under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, an official said.

The 17-year-old girl, fed up with her father's brutality, left home in Central Mumbai's Mahalaxmi area on Wednesday, the official said.

Unable to trace her, the man approached the Tardeo police station and lodged a complaint alleging his daughter had been kidnapped. Based on his complaint, a case of kidnapping was registered against an unidentified person and a search was launched for the teenager, he said.

During the search, a crime branch team found the girl at Mahalaxmi station on the Western Railway network. The girl was taken to a crime branch office, where during questioning, she revealed a shocking tale of repeated sexual abuse by her father, said the official.

According to the official, the teenager told the police her father had been sexually assaulting her for the last five years.

Based on her complaint, a case of rape and other offences under the BNS and the POCSO Act was registered at the police station.

A crime branch team led by Police Inspector Sadanand Yerekar then started a search for the girl's father, who was tracked down in the Saat Rasta Circle area and subsequently nabbed, he said.

After his medical examination, the accused was handed over to the Tardeo police for further investigation into the case lodged against him, the official added.

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