The admissibility of the child victim's statement to her mother as evidence, despite the child not being examined as a witness due to her tender age, was a central legal point established in the judgment.

1. The appellant is aggrieved by his conviction for committing offence under Section 363 IPC & 6 POCSO Act, in the alternative under Section 376(2)(i) IPC and the order on sentence dated 9th December, 2016 whereby he has been sentenced as under:

(1)	U/S 363 IPC	to undergo RI for 5 years with fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo SI for 30 days.
(2)	U/S 6 POCSO Act	to undergo RI for 10 years with fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo SI for 30 days.

No separate sentence was awarded to him for the offence punishable under Section 376(2)(i) IPC and all the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

2. Criminal law was set into motion on receipt of DD No.21 dated 29th December, 2013 recorded at Police Station Model Town at 3:13 PM. As per this DD the wireless operator, control room, North Delhi informed through wireless set that a girl aged about five years has been raped at old Gupta Colony (House No. withheld), Model Town, Near Vijay Nagar. Police reached the spot but the child victim had already been removed to BJRM Hospital by the PCR van.

3. On medical examination of the child victim, she being subjected to sexual assault was confirmed. As the child victim was aged about four years, the mother of the child victim who saw her bleeding from her private part and tried to ask from her about the incident, made the statement Ex.PW-2/A on the basis of which FIR No.452/13 Ex.PW-3/A was registered.

4. On the basis of the information about the person who sexually assaulted the child victim, gathered from the child by her mother, the convict was arrested. He was sent for medical examination. After completion of investigation he was sent to face trial. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

5. During trial, prosecution examined 23 witnesses. During examination under Section 313 Cr.P.C. the convict denied his involvement and claimed that his employer Doodh Nath (PW-8) wanted to replace him with his brother-in-law and therefore he was falsely implicated in this case.

6. The learned Trial Court while disbelieving the defence plea taken by the appellant and by placing reliance on the school record proving the age of the child victim to be about four years and the testimony of the parents of the child victim as well PW-8 Doodh Nath, the employer of the convict duly corroborated by the medical record, held the convict guilty for committing the offence punishable under Section 363 IPC & 6 POCSO Act in alternative/376(2)(i) IPC and sentenced as above.

7. On behalf of the appellant Sh.Harsh Prabhakar, Advocate has filed the written submissions and in addition submitted that the testimony of the child victim could not be recorded by the Court either at the stage of investigation or during trial. He further contended that parents of the child victim are not witnesses to the occurrence. Rather the child was found sitting by her mother in sad state and she only thought that the child might have passed urine in her pyjami. The child was not screaming in pain or crying. Attention of this Court has also been drawn to the fact that the father of the child victim was present in the house and he had not noticed anything untoward till he was informed by the mother of the child that the child was bleeding from her private part. The improvements and contradictions made by the prosecution witnesses in their statement and the contradiction about scene of crime were put in tabulated form by the learned counsel for the appellant. He submitted that the evidence on record was not sufficient to prove the guilt of the convict beyond reasonable doubt. It was also urged before this Court that absence of motive on the part of the complainant for false implication in itself is not sufficient to convict him as held in Wasim Ahmed vs. State in Crl.A.291/2016.

8. Learned counsel for t