JUDGMENT

1. By this Appeal, the Appellant-Accused is challenging the judgment and order dtd. 23/12/2019, passed by the learned Special Judge at Pune in Special POCSO Case No.17 of 2017. By the impugned judgment the learned Special Court has convicted the Appellant for the offence punishable under Sec. 5(m) read with Sec. 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 ('POCSO Act') read with Sec. 376(2)(i) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC for short).

2. The Appellant has been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 10 years with fine. The learned Special Judge however has acquitted the Appellant from the offence punishable under Sec. 323 of Indian Penal Code.

3. The prosecution case may be briefly stated thus :-

The first informant, who is the mother of the victim girl was working in Central Park Hotel at Pune. Her husband is doing the work of collecting garbage. On 7/11/2016, when the informant came back from her work at 7.00 p.m., she found that the victim, who is her minor daughter aged about 6 years, was having fever. Her elder daughter brought medicines from a medical shop, which was administered to the victim. According to the informant, on account of the fac