Thiruvananthapuram | A 20-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping and assaulting an 85-year-old woman and abandoning her on the roadside in this district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place under Venjaramoodu police station limit on Wednesday evening.

Agin, a lottery agent, was apprehended on Friday, they said.

According to police, the elderly woman was taken into a deserted building by the accused, raped, brutally beaten with a stick, causing injuries, and was later abandoned on the roadside.

Locals noticed the woman with severe head and facial injuries and rushed her to a nearby hospital, from where she was shifted to the government medical college later.

Though initially injuries suggested that she was brutally beaten up by someone, a detailed medical examination confirmed the rape.

Based on the statement of the woman and some local vendors in the area, the police identified the accused and nabbed him later.

"As per the statement of his family, he is suspected of having a mental disorder and the habit of committing such assaults following an accident. An investigation is on," a police officer said.

He was remanded to judicial custody by a local court and the woman was discharged from hospital, police added.