A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a man in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident happened in the Galsi police station area on Monday night when a cultural programme was underway in the village, they said.

The girl stepped out of the venue to drink water at a tube well when the man forcibly took her to a nearby house that was empty, police said.

The man, a resident of Bolpur in Birbhum district, allegedly raped her there, they said.

The girl somehow managed to flee the house and went home bleeding profusely from her genitals, police said.

The man, a driver by profession, had come to his relative's place in that village to watch the programme.

After the girl's family lodged a police complaint, the man was arrested. When produced at a special POCSO court on Tuesday, no lawyer wanted to represent him and the judge sent him to judicial custody till April 11, police said.

The girl is at present undergoing treatment at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital.

Police said that a case has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.