The prosecution failed to prove the victim's age and the occurrence of the alleged incident beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the appellant's acquittal.

JUDGMENT :

G. A. Sanap, J.

1. In this appeal, challenge is to the judgment and order dated 25.05.2022, passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Link Court, Mangrulpir, in Special Child Case No. 28/2018, whereby the learned Judge held the appellant guilty for the offences punishable under Section 376(2)(l) of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 3, 4, 5(k) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as “the POCSO Act” for short). He is sentenced to suffer imprisonment for 10 (ten) years and to pay fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default to suffer RI for 6 (six) months for the offence punishable under Section 376(2)(l) of the IPC. No separate sentence is awarded for the offences under the POCSO Act.

2. BACKGROUND FACTS :

The informant (PW6) is the father of the victim girl (PW7). The case of the prosecution, which can be gathered from the report lodged by the informant and other materials is that the victim is a deaf and dumb girl. The incident of rape on the victim occurred in the night of 18.04.2018. The appellant and the victim are the residents of the same village. On 18.04.2018, on account of marriage of the son of the neighbour, namely, Suresh Chavan, a pre-marriage function was arranged at his house. At about 8.30 p.m., the celebration started with the DJ band etc. In the procession of the bridegroom, young boys were dancing to the tune of the songs played by the DJ band. The parents of the victim, being the relatives of Suresh Chavhan, had gone to attend the function. The victim was sleeping on a cot (baz) in front of her house. It is stated that at about 8.30 p.m., the appellant came there. The appellant gagged the mouth of the victim and lifted her. The appellant took the victim beside a cattle shed of one Premsingh Rathod and committed forcible sexual intercourse with the victim. The victim came back from the spot after the incident and slept on the cot in the night. The mother of the victim returned back and saw that the victim was lying on the cot. The victim made a gesture suggesting that there was pain in her stomach. On the next day, at about 9.00 a.m., the informant went to attend the marriage of the son of neighbour Suresh Chavan to another village. The victim narrated the incident to her mother in the morning by signs and gestures. The mother of the victim was shocked after hearing the account of the incident from the victim.

3. It is stated that the informant (PW6) came back to the house after attending the marriage in the evening. On arrival, he saw that the victim and his wife were weeping. He questioned them about the cause of their weeping. The mother of the victim narrated the entire incident to the informant. It is stated that after hearing the account of the incident occurred with his daughter, he was shocked and mentally disturbed. They took time to recover from this shock and ultimately they decided to lodge a report against the appellant. The informant (PW6) along with the victim and her mother went to Asegaon Police Station and lodged the report (Exh.43).

4. On the basis of the report (Exh.43), a crime bearing No.76/2018 was registered against the appellant. PW15 carried out the investigation. He referred the victim for medical examination. The appellant was arrested. He was also referred for medical examination. The Investigating Officer recorded the statements of the witnesses, including the informant and the mother of the victim. The Investigating Officer drew the spot panchanama (Exh.26) in presence of the panchas. The clothes of the victim and the clothes of the appellant were seized. The biological samples of the victim were collected and seized. The blood sample of the appellant was also collected and seized. The samples were forwarded to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), Nagpur for analysis. The Investigating Officer obtained the birth certificate (Exh.67) of the victim from the office of Gram Panchayat, Chikhalagad. The stateme