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A. M. BADAR, CHANDRA SHEKHAR JHA
Anurag Kumar @ Anurag Choudhari – Appellant
Versus
State of Bihar – Respondent
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012—Section 6—Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 376D—Penetrative sexual assault on girl child—Life sentence—For making out offence punishable under Section 6 of POCSO Act, it is incumbent on part of prosecution to establish that victim of crime in question, at the relevant time, was a child as defined by Section 2(d) of POCSO—If it is shown that victim was below 18 years of age at time of commission of offence of penetrative sexual assault on her repeatedly then only accused persons can be made liable for consequence thereof provided by Section 6 of POCSO Act—For proving age of a person, oral evidence is hardly of any assistance—In case in hand, prosecution has relied on oral evidence regarding age of victim so also evidence of Medical Officer—Oral evidence regarding age of victim female child cannot be accepted—Fatal blow is given to prosecution case regarding age of victim—Prosecution has failed to adduced any evidence to point out that victim female child, on the date of commission of alleged offence was a child below 18 years of age—Provisions of POCSO Act are not applicable to case in hand—As such, conviction of appellant/accused
The sole testimony of a child victim can suffice for conviction if credible, and age determination must rely on conclusive evidence such as school records.
The victim's testimony in sexual assault cases should be weighed on reliability rather than strict corroboration, reflecting the trauma and context of the crime.
The court upheld the conviction of the appellants for sexual offences against a minor, emphasizing the credibility of the victim's testimony and corroborative evidence.
The conviction for sexual assault can be based solely on the victim's credible testimony, and the POCSO Act mandates minimum sentences for such offences against minors.
The court upheld the conviction under POCSO, confirming that credible victim testimony and medical evidence sufficiently established the appellant's guilt in the sexual assault of a minor.
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