JUDGMENT :

ASHWANI KUMAR SINGH, J.

The sole appellant has been held guilty in Tr. No.154 of 2020, R.G. No.535 of 2018 arising out of Dalsingsarai P.S. Case No.150 of 2018 by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-6th-cum-Special Court (POCSO) (for the sake of convenience hereinafter referred to as ‘Trial Court’) for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 376-A(2) of the Indian Penal Code (for short ‘IPC’) and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (for short ‘POCSO Act’) vide judgment dated 16.12.2020.

2. Consequently, the Trial Court has awarded a composite sentence of death for all the three offences under which he has been convicted. The death sentence awarded by the Trial Court is subject to confirmation by the High Court.

3. The reference made by the Trial Court under Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short ‘CrPC’) has been registered as Death Reference No.1 of 2021.

4. The appellant has separately challenged his conviction and sentence imposed by the Trial Court vide Criminal Appeal (DB) No.140 of 2021.

5. The appeal and the reference have been heard together and are being disposed of by a common judgment.

6. The prosecution story, in brief, as per the fardbeyan of the informant recorded by an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police (for short ‘ASI’), namely, Koiliming of Dalsingsarai Police Station on 03.06.2018 at 7:15 a.m. at village-Pand is that she had gone to her parent’s village along with her daughter aged about three years and a son aged about one and a half year. On 02.06.2018, at about 6:00 p.m., when her daughter along with her maternal uncle Amarjeet aged around seven years was grazing goat in the field of one Chandra Bhushan Rai, the appellant Ram Lal Mahto arrived there and took her away in his lap. The said incident was reported to her by her brother Amarjeet when she was at her house. On receipt of the information, she along with her other family members and villagers started searching for her daughter. When her whereabouts could not be known, they went to the house of the appellant Ram Lal Mahto. There, they came to know that Ram Lal Mahto had taken the victim towards southern direction. She along with others kept on searching for her missing daughter throughout the night but could not find her. Next morning, at about 5:00 a.m., when she was sitting at her house, some villagers came and informed that the dead body of her daughter was lying in the field of one Md. Taiyab Mian. On receipt of such information, when she along with her family members rushed to the place of occurrence, she found her daughter dead in the field of Taiyab Mian and her genitalia was badly injured. The informant alleged that the appellant Ram Lal Mahto killed her minor daughter and dumped her body in the field of Taiyab Mian after sexually assaulting her.

7. The aforementioned fardbeyan of the informant led to the institution of the Dalsingsarai Police Station Case No.150 of 2018 dated 03.06.2018 under Sections 376, 302 and 201 of the IPC and Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act by Naresh Paswan, Station House Officer (for short ‘SHO’) Dalsingsarai Police Station and the investigation was handed over to one Braj Kishore Singh (P.W.6), a Sub Inspector of Police.

8. On completion of investigation, one Sunil Kumar Singh (P.W.7), the second Investigating Officer of the case, submitted charge-sheet against the appellant vide charge-sheet No.157 of 2018 finding the prosecution case to be true for the offences punishable under Sections 376-A (2), 302 and 201 of the IPC and Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act.

9. After going through the report submitted by the police under Section 173 of the CrPC as also the other relevant documents, the Trial Court took cognizance of the offences punishable under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC and Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act and summoned the appellant to face trial.

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