Karkala: In a shameful incident, a maternal uncle was nabbed by the police for impregnating his 12-year-old niece.

The arrested is Nagaraju alias Nagesh (20), a resident of Belman.

It is said that the victim who had lost both her parents had been living with her grandmother. Her maternal uncles Ganesh and Nagesh were living with them.

Originally hailing from Tamil Nadu, most of the members of the family are working in local quarries.

Nagesh had been subjecting the girl to such heinous atrocities but the girl had remained tight-lipped as her uncle had threatened her of dire consequences if she revealed about the same to anyone in the family.

However, when she took ill couple of days ago and went to Belman Primary Health Centre, the doctors found that the minor girl was pregnant. Immediately the local police were informed and then the girl was forwarded to a hospital in Udupi.

After gathering all details from the girl, on Tuesday late night, the cops reached the house of the girl and picked Nagesh.

He has been produced before the court after medical tests.