JUDGMENT :

Michael Zothankhuma, J.

1. Heard Mr. A.M. Bora, learned Senior Counsel for the appellant assisted by Mr. D. Talukdar, learned counsel. Also heard Ms. B. Bhuyan, learned Additional Public Prosecutor assisted by Ms. P. Bora, learned counsel.

2. This appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment dated 24.02.2020 passed by the learned Court of the Additional District & Sessions Judge, Fast Tract Court, Hojai, Sankardev Nagar in Special (POCSO) Case No.13(N)/2018, by which the two appellants, Jahangir Alom and Eliyas Ali have been convicted under Section 376(1) IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life, with a fine of Rs.50,000/-each, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for 6 (six) month, vide sentence order dated 28.02.2020. They would also be debarred from any kind of remission.

3. The prosecution case in brief is that an FIR was submitted on 19.11.2017 by Prosecution Witness No.1 (PW-1) to the Officer-in-Charge, Kaki Police Station, which is to the effect that on 18.11.2017, at around 7 p.m. when his daughter, aged 16 years, went out of the house to ease herself, the appellants gagged her and took her forcibly to the house of the appellant Md. Eli