Alappuzha (Kerala) | A 57-year-old man has been arrested for attempting to set on fire his neighbour's 18-year-old daughter when she was alone at her home in the coastal Kerala district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, Jose, was out on bail in a case for stabbing the girl's father a few years ago, police said.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon when the girl was alone at home, it said.

The man entered the compound of their house with a can of petrol and a lighter, shouting that he would kill her, police said.

He then poured the petrol on her, but before he could set her on fire, the girl hit his hand carrying the lighter, which fell down, and ran away, it said.

"She informed her mother, who in turn called the police. The accused was arrested later in the night on the same day," an officer of Alappuzha South police station said.

Jose has been booked for the offences under sections 296(b) (obscene acts and songs), 329(3) (criminal trespass and house-trespass) and 109(1) (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.

Talking to a TV channel, the girl and her mother said that the accused was a constant nuisance and ever since he was out on bail, had made repeated threats to kill members of their family.