JUDGMENT :

This is an appeal under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against conviction of the appellants for the offences punishable under Section 370 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, under Section 5 and 6 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 (hereinafter ‘the PITA’) and under Section 4 read with Section 17 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (hereinafter ‘the POCSO Act’) and sentencing them to substantive sentences and fine, maximum of which is 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

2. The allegations of the prosecution as can be discerned from the F.I.R. and the record are to the effect that the appellants are mother and daughter. P.S.I. Gite (P.W. 4) of Anti Human Trafficking Unit Superintendent of Police Office Beed received an information that the appellants were running a brothel at Sirasdevi Phata Georai, on 05.01.2018. She verified the genuineness of the information and after it was confirmed, reported the matter to the Superintendent of Police. Police Inspector Jadhav of the Anti- Human Trafficking Unit was directed to conduct a raid. He arranged for panch witnesses, one of whom was a woman, Kamal (P.W.2). A Pre-trap panchnama was co