New Delhi: A mentally-challenged teenage girl was allegedly raped by an auto-rickshaw driver in the wee hours on Monday in East Delhi's Ghazipur area, police said.

The incident came to light when staff of a PCR van which was patrolling in the area found an auto abandoned in the middle of the road. While searching for its owner, they found the accused, Ram Ashish, sexually assaulting the girl.

"The PCR van personnel found the auto parked near the Ghazipur flyover around 4:30 AM. When they went looking for its owner in a nearby forest, they heard a girl screaming and immediately rushed to the spot," a police official said.

"The girl was rescued and Ashish was taken into custody," he added.

The oficial said Ashish on interrogation told police that he saw the girl near Anand Vihar Railway station and lured her on the pretext of dropping her at Sarai Kale Khan. He then stopped his auto near the flyover where he raped the girl.

A case against the auto driver under Section 376 (rape) of IPC and  Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) has been registered at Ghazipur police station.

Police is yet to ascertain the identity of the girl as she has been unable to answer their questions due to her mental condition, the official said.

"Efforts are being made to establish her identity and locate her family. Police is checking records of other districts to know whether any girl of her description had gone missing in the recent past," he said.

An NGO has been roped in for her counseling and she was later sent to a shelter home.