A doctor (43) and his elder brother (46) were arrested on Thursday on charges of allegedly raping his minor daughter (7) on two separate occasions two years ago in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district’s Haldwani town, said police.

Though the incident had occurred in 2018, the matter came to light last year after the victim’s mother lodged a complaint against her husband and the brother-in-law in Varanasi, where she is currently staying with her daughter following a family discord.

Last September, the Uttar Pradesh Police had transferred the case to Haldwani.

“Two persons were arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping the minor on two separate occasions at their home in Haldwani. They were booked for rape under the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” said a police official, requesting anonymity.

“The complainant started staying separately from her accused husband following a family discord. The victim narrated her ordeal to her mother following which she lodged a complaint at a local police station in Varanasi,” he added.

The police attributed the delay in the arrests to receiving the relevant documents late and also because the complainant had wanted to shift the case back to Varanasi.

“The accused were produced before a court on Thursday and were later sent to police custody. A probe is on,” said Amit Shrivastava, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Haldwani (city).