The assault came to light after the girl, staying with her mother, brother and grandparents, told about the abuse to one of her relatives 10 days ago, the police said.
Kappan was arrested on October 5, 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men on September 14.
According to Chirala DSP Srikanth, Yaddanapudi sub-inspector and his team nabbed the accused during the checking at Anantavaram check-post on Thursday afternoon.
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Kerala has currently 67,903 active cases with 8,96,668 recoveries and 3,867 deaths so far.
Women of age group between 10 and 50 are not allowed to enter the hill shrine but a Supreme Court's verdict had allowed entry of women of all ages to the temple.