Acquittal in sexual assault case upheld on appeal as prosecutrix's testimony lacked sterling quality due to inconsistencies, voluntary conduct, absent corroboration, and doubtful medical evidence indicating no recent intercourse.

JUDGMENT :

Sushil Kukreja, J.

The instant appeal has been preferred by the appellant/State under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the impugned judgment of acquittal dated 06.02.2015, passed by the learned Special Court, Una, District Una, HP, in SCST Case No.2/2013, whereby the accused persons (respondents herein) were acquitted of all the charges framed against them.

2. Brief facts giving rise to the present appeal, as per the prosecution story, are that the prosecutrix (name withheld) alongwith her father and Pradhan of Gram Panchayat, visited police station on 07.06.2013 and got her statement recorded under Section 154 of Cr.PC, stating therein that on 04.06.2013, she alongwith her grand-parents had gone to the house of her aunt (Bua) and from there, she made a telephonic call to Parveen Kumar (respondent No.1/accused herein), who was known to her through her sister, on 05.06.2013 to meet her at Shiv Mandir. Thereafter, she met him near Shiv Mandir at about 2.30 p.m., and she told him not to make phone calls to her as her parents had come to know about the same. In the meanwhile, one person came there, who inquired about their relation and thereafter 2-3 boys also came there and started giving beatings to accused Parveen and then she went to the house of some unknown lady. From the house of said lady, she made a phone call to accused Parveen, who told her that he was at Daulatpur and thereafter she also went to Daulatpur, where accused Parveen met her at the bus stand. He told her to go to her own house, but she refused and went with him to his house and there was no one in the house. Accused Parveen asked her to spend a night with him, but she refused and thereafter he forcibly took her to Gagret, where a boy named Bindu (respondent No.2/ accused Arvind Kumar herein) met them and then they all went to Mubarikpur on a bike being driven by accused Bindu. She wanted to go to her house from Mubarikpur, but accused Parveen took her to a hotel at Amb on the bike alongwith Bindu and booked a room there. After taking meals, accused Bindu went from there on his bike and during intervening night of 5/6.06.2013, at about 12/12.30, accused Parveen stripped-off her salwar forcibly and committed rape upon her. He threatened to kill her parents in case she disclosed about the incident to anyone and he also told her that if she had sexual intercourse with him, he would marry her, but after that he refused to marry her as she belonged to scheduled caste. Thereafter, she went to the house of accused Parveen and in the meantime Pradhan of his village also came there. Her father and Pradhan also met her at Gagret, to whom she narrated the entire incident. On the basis of the statement of prosecutrix, FIR in question was registered against the accused persons.

3. The police, during the course of investigation, got the prosecutrix medically examined, prepared the spot map, recorded statements of the witnesses and took into possession the bed-sheet from hotel 'City Heart' and also obtained the copy of relevant entry in the register of the hotel. Police also got recorded the statement of prosecutrix under Section 164, Cr.PC and obtained call details and other relevant documents. Accused Parveen Kumar was arrested, who was got medically examined and after completion of the investigation, police presented the