New Delhi  - The son of an Indian politician was Tuesday charged with raping a 14-year-old German girl in the country's south-western state of Goa, news reports said.

Rohit Monserrate, 21, son of Goa education minister Atanasio Monserrate, was also booked by the state police under various provisions of the Indian penal code relating to obscenity, the CNN-IBN news channel reported.

A police team had reached the minister's bungalow to arrest the accused, the report said, adding the case had caused a furore in the state.

Monserrate was charged with the crime after the girl's mother complained to the police that he had sexually abused and harassed her daughter by sending indecent text messages.

The girl's mother, who is a researcher on Indian mythologies based in Goa on a long-term visa, had filed a complaint with the state police early in October.

Atanasio Monserrate has however denied the allegations levelled against him and said it was a conspiracy hatched by his political rivals to "target" his family.

The beach resort state of Goa, which has been among India's most favourite tourist destination has been rocked by scandals involving foreign nationals in the recent past.

It's image as a safe destination was marred by the rape and murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling at the popular Anjuna beach earlier this year.

Reports of such crimes along with the global economic downturn has resulted in a dip in the number of international tourists visiting Goa. (dpa)