A 12-year-old Hindu girl was allegedly raped by a 60-year-old Muslim man, Osman in Uttarakhand's Nainital, sparking communal tension on Wednesday night. The incident angered local residents, leading to protests and vandalism in the area.  

Police identified the accused as Osman, a contractor by profession, and arrested him. To control the situation, heavy security forces were deployed to maintain law and order after the protests began. The unrest started around 8:00 PM on Wednesday when news spread that the minor girl was taken for a medical examination following the alleged sexual assault. The outrage among locals quickly escalated into demonstrations. A report from PTI stated that members of certain Hindu groups held protests outside a police station, calling for strong action against the accused. During the protest, they damaged shops owned by Muslims and threw stones at a nearby mosque, according to the police.

The crowd also shouted anti-Pakistan slogans, damaged vehicles, and threw stones at homes in the area, breaking their windows. Senior officials, including Superintendent of Police (City) Jagdish Chandra, stepped in to help calm the situation. They reassured the protesters that strict action would be taken against the accused. Despite this, the protests went on past midnight, leading the police to increase patrols until 2:00 AM to prevent any further problems, PTI reported. Police have been heavily deployed throughout the city to keep the calm, according to SP Chandra. "We brought the situation under control at around 12:30am. Heavy deployment of police is in place. We will not allow anybody to take the law into their hands and strict action will be taken if anybody does so," he said. 

A first information report (FIR) was filed on Wednesday against a building contractor for allegedly raping a minor girl in his car on April 12. The FIR was registered under section 65(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) at Mallital police station. Following the report, the accused was arrested, according to Hindustan Times.