S. Nagamuthu, J.

1. Teaching is a Noble Profession that shapes the Character, Calibre and Future of an individual. If people remember me as a good Teacher, that will be the biggest honour to me. said Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. A Teacher is a role model to the every student in class room. He is responsible for the all round personality development of a student. For a good and sincere student he is a "God". But, Alas! Shockingly, in this case, a shameless teacher is alleged to have sexually exploited a female child of 14 years age, who was his student. He is not a God like, but an evil being. The Story of the teacher, in this instant case, goes like this.

2. The teacher/appellant is the sole accused in Special Sessions Case No. 10 of 2016 on the file of Fast Track Mahila Court, Ariyalur. He stood charged for the offence punishable under Sections 366 IPC, under Section 6 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 and under Section 9 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. By Judgment dated 15.09.2016, the trial Court acquitted the appellant from the charge under Section 9 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, however, convicted him for the offence under Section 366 IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- in default, to undergo six months simple imprisonment and for the offence under Section 6 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- in default to undergo simple imprisonment for one year. The appellant has also been directed to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) as compensation. Challenging the said conviction and sentence, the appellant is before this Court with this appeal.

3. The case of the prosecution in brief, is as follows:-

(a) PW-2 was admittedly 14 years and two months old. As on 04.09.2015, she was studying IX standard in the Government High School at Coovagam village in Ariyalur District. Her date of birth, as per school records, is 28.06.2001. According to the case of the prosecution, the appellant, who was aged about 27 years, was a newly appointed Social Science Teacher in the said School. He was the teacher for PW-2 (hereinafter referred to as "the child").

(b) It is the case of the prosecution that when the child was studying IX standard, the accused, who was already married and having two children, told the child (PW-2) that he loved her and he also promised to marry her. Enticing her with these sweet words, it is alleged that he took her to many places like Trichy, Mukombu and Pondicherry, without the knowledge of the parents and family members of the victim child. On 04.09.2015, the accused wanted the child to come to school to attend Talent Exam Special Class. In fact, there was no such Talent Exam Special Class conducted on that particular date. The intention of the accused, according to the prosecution, in asking the victim child to come to the School was to abduct her and to commit penetrative sexual assault on her. When she went to the school, the accused took her from the School to a house at KKC Colony in Jayamkondam. They reached the house at 6.00 p.m. In the said house, between 04.09.2015 and 07.09.2015, he kept her, promised her to marry and introduced her to the neighbours as his wife and thus had repeated sexual intercourse with the child. It is further alleged that on 08.09.2015 he took the victim child back and dropped her at her house. This is the crux of the charges framed against the accused.

(c) PW-1 is the mother of the victim child. She saw the victim child lastly around 2.00 p.m. on the date of occurrence when she left for the school to attend the Talent Exam Special Class. PW-1 believed that she was really going to attend the Special Class, but, in the evening, the child did not return home. Therefore, PW-1 went in search of the victim child in the sc