Kollam (Kerala) | A 40-year-old man has been arrested for "sexually assaulting" a minor Tamil girl onboard a train while she was returning to her native place with her grandfather, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred in the wee hours of Thursday in the general compartment of the Palaruvi Express while she was sleeping on the floor beside her grandfather, police said.

"The family had come for a pilgrimage to the Edathua Church and was returning home to Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu when the incident occurred," an officer of the Punalur railway police station said.

The accused, a Kollam native, allegedly took the sleeping girl to his seat and sexually assaulted her there, the officer said.

"The act was recorded by a woman sitting in a nearby seat, who also raised an alarm. By then, the train had entered Tamil Nadu, and the accused got off at Sengottai," the officer added.

Subsequently, statements of the victim and her parents were recorded, a photograph of the accused was obtained, and an investigation was launched.

The accused, who works at a chicken shop, was arrested from Kollam on Friday and booked under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.

He was remanded to 15 days of judicial custody on Saturday, they added.