A man was booked for allegedly trying to rape a 12-year-old girl yesterday in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, police said. Sohanbir (40) attempted to rape the girl when she had gone to relieve herself in Gadla village under the Bhopa police station, they said.

On the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim's family members, a case was registered against the accused, who has gone absconding, police said. According to the complaint, the girl had gone out to relieve herself when the accused tried to drag her to a sugarcane field to force himself on her. The girl raised an alarm after which the accused fled the scene, police said, adding that efforts are on to nab him.