A man was arrested for allegedly raping a 40-year-old woman, who is unable to speak and has mental health problems, in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, police said on Thursday.

The accused was apprehended on Wednesday after family members of the victim caught him and handed over to the police, a senior officer said.

The family members of the victim alleged that the accused took the woman to an abandoned house after she stepped out of her home in Kultali and raped her.

The accused was produced before a local court which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody, the officer said.

A family member of the woman claimed that a local panchayat member offered compensation of Rs 2 lakh to settle the matter but the offer was refused.

Earlier in October, violence erupted in Kultali and Joynagar areas after a nine-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered.

Her body was found hours after she went missing.

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