JUDGMENT :-

R. Hemalatha, J.

(Prayer: Criminal Appeal filed under Section 374 (2) of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 praying to set aside the judgment made in Spl.C.C. No.10 of 2019 on the file of the Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases under POCSO Act, Coimbatore, dated 18.02.2020.)

1. This appeal is against the judgment and order dated 18.02.2020, passed by the Special Court for POCSO cases, Coimbatore, in Special C.C.No.10 of 2019, wherein the appellant was convicted for the offence under Sections 5(l), 5(j) (ii) r/w 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (herein after called as POCSO Act) and sentenced to undergo Life Imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs.2,000/- in default, to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for one year. The trial court further directed the Government to pay a compensation of Rs.3,00,000/- to the victim and a sum of Rs.2,00,000/- to the female child born to the victim under Section 33(8) of POCSO Act r/w 7(2) of POCSO Rules 2012.

2. The case of the prosecution in nutshell is as follows:

i. Sankari @ Sankareswari is the mother of the victim child who was aged 15 years. Sankari was separated from her husband and was living with her two girl children at Chekkan Thottam, Ganapathy, Coimbatore. The older one was married and was living with her husband, while the younger one, the victim, discontinued her studies when she was in VIII Standard as she was suffering from symptoms of epilepsy.

ii. P.W.1 was employed in a construction company as a labourer and the victim P.W.2 was alone in the house, when she got acquainted with the appellant Keerthiraj, who was introduced to her by another friend by name Usha (not examined). The appellant developed intimacy with the victim girl and exploited her by promising to marry her. There were also occasions when he used to threaten her that he would commit suicide.

iii. Over a period of time, though the victim girl did not reveal about the relationship, mother of the victim (P.W.1) got suspicious when the victim girl started vomiting and the victim girl was taken to the Government Hospital, where her pregnancy was confirmed. Thereafter, the victim girl confessed that she was forcibly made to have sex with the appellant and that it used to happen during her (P.W.1) absence when she was away for work.

iv. P.W.1 immediately went to Puliyakulam East All Women Police Station and gave a written complaint (Ex.P1) on 29.09.2015, which was received by Tmt.A.Prema (P.W.6), Assistant Sub Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station and registered FIR (Ex.P11) in Crime No.17 of 2015 under Section 3 r/w 4 of POCSO Act 2012. Tmt. Priyamalini (P.W.7), Inspector of Police, took up investigation and sent the victim to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for medical examination. She then went to the scene of offence and prepared an Observation Mahazar (Ex.P6) and a rough sketch (Ex.P12) in the presence of the witnesses Vijay (P.W.3) and Jovel (not examined). The same day evening, at about 6.15 p.m, the appellant was arrested by P.W.7 at Saravanampatti bus stop. His police confessional statement was obtained in the presence of one Thangam and Jothibasu (both not examined). Thereafter, the appellant was produced before the concerned court for remand.

v. Dr. Punithavathi, who examined the victim girl (Accident Register Ex.P7) on the next day, i.e. 30.09.2015, confirmed the pregnancy of the victim and in the certificate of examination for sexual offences (Ex.P8), she has observed that the hymen was not intact and the uterus was enlarged with a fetus of 20-22 weeks.

vi. On 13.10.2015, Tmt. Sharmila (P.W.8), Additional Mahila Court Judge (Magisterial level) recorded the statement of the victim under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Ex.P5). The proceedings were also recorded in a Compact Disc (CD) and the same was marked as Ex.P13.

vii. The appellant was subjected to potency test on 16.10.2015 at Kovai Medical College Hospital. Dr.Pandeeswaran (P.W.5) opined that there wa