JUDGMENT :

Sanjeev Kumar, J.

This appeal by the appellant (‘the accused’) is directed against the judgment of conviction dated 28.12.2013 and order of sentence dated 31.12.2013 passed by the learned 3rd Additional Sessions Judge Jammu (Designated Fast Track Court for Rape Cases), [hereafter for short ‘the trial Court’] whereby the accused has been held guilty for commission of offences punishable under Sections 302/376 RPC and sentenced to death.

2. Before we advert to the grounds of challenge urged by Ms. Mandeep Reen, learned counsel representing the accused, to assail the impugned judgment and the order of sentence, it is necessary to first elude to complete resume of the prosecution case.

3. On 21.04.2010, at about 11.15 PM, the police of Police Station Satwari received an information through reliable sources that a dead body of an unidentified minor girl of 7/8 years of age was lying below the Digiana Pulli. Since the death of a human being had happened under mysterious circumstances, as such, with a view to find out the cause of death, proceedings under Section 174 Cr.P.C were initiated by Shri Rajesh Sharma, Sub Inspector. He proceeded to the spot and gathered people from the nearby area. There was a missing report lodged with regard to a girl, daughter of one Babu Ram R/O Khajwar Chatterpur (M.P), residing temporarily in a Jhuggi at Shastri Nagar, Jammu, as such, said Babu Ram was called, who identified the dead body to be that of his minor daughter. The identification memo of the deceased was prepared and dead body taken into custody after collecting the samples of blood stained clay and the simple clay from the spot. The samples were seized for chemical analysis. Mr. Rajesh Sharma, SI, who was holding the inquest proceedings, also prepared the site plan of the place of incident, the photographs of the dead body were taken and the dead body was dispatched to Government Medical College, Hospital, Jammu for post-mortem. During the post-mortem, one shirt of the deceased was seized as a piece of evidence and the same, after proper sealing, was also sent for chemical analysis. The shirt was sealed with a ring, which was kept on proper supardnama. Viscera was also sent for chemical examination to the Forensic Science Laboratory Jammu.

4. After completion of the Post-mortem and other requisite formalities, the dead body was handed over to the legal heirs for performing the last rites. The seized packet of shirt, blood stained clay and simple clay were got re-sealed from the Executive Magistrate First Class and then sent to FSL Jammu for their examination and expert opinion. After the Post-mortem report and the viscera report were received, the Investigating officer recorded the statements of material witnesses under Section 175 Cr.P.C. During the inquest proceedings it emerged that Babu Ram Anuragi, the father of the deceased, along with his family and fellow villagers, had been living in temporary huts, (Jhuggies) at Shastri Nagar and would usually go out for work during the day time. It was on 15.04.2010 during the day time that accused, who is also a resident of Chatterpur (M.P), came to the Jhuggi of Babu Tram Anuragi, where he used to frequently visit for providing toffees etc. to the deceased. On that day the accused told the deceased to massage his body and thereafter he will give her toffees. After getting massage on his body, the accused went out of the Jhuggi and was followed by the deceased. It also came to fore that in the same evening the accused and the deceased were spotted near Digiana Pulli, holding each other’s hand. On 21.04.2010, the dead body of the deceased was found beneath the Digiana Pulli, which was lying concealed in a Cabin of the Pulli. The other clothing i.e. Shalwar, underwear and Chappels were not found on her body. After receiving the report of autopsy of the deceased and on the basis of other material and evidence collected during the inquest proceedings it was established that it was the acc