A 22-year-old driver of a school van was arrested for raping a class 5 girl in south Delhi’s R K Puram area on Saturday, police said.

The accused identified as Nitish Kumar, a resident of sector-9 in R K Puram, was caught red-handed by resident welfare association members of sector-9 locality while committing the crime and handed over to police on Saturday morning.

The 12-year-old girl, student of a government school at sector-1 in R K Puram, was sent to All India Institute of Medical Sciences where the medical check-up confirmed rape.

The accused who stays in the neighbourhood of the victim took her in his van, parked it behind a building and raped her.

During interrogation, police learnt that the accused had earlier also raped the girl two times — in December last year and January. “He threatened the girl of dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident,” said a police official.

 “A case over the incident was registered against the accused and he was arrested,” said the officer.