JUDGMENT :

R. POORNIMA, J.

1. This Criminal Appeal is preferred against the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the Sessions Judge, Special Court for POCSO Act cases, Tirunelveli, in Special S.C. No.108 of 2024, dated 09.01.2025 and consequently to acquit the appellant.

2. The case of the prosecution is that both the accused and the victim girl and her family are living in the adjacent houses. On 20.07.2024 at about 11.00a.m., the victim girl after taking her bath changed her dress and at that time, the accused with the intention to commit penetrative sexual assault trespassed illegally into the house of the child, closed her mouth and abducted her to his house, tied her to a pillar and committed penetrative sexual offence. After the offence, he kept her in a Cauldron and also threatened her with dire consequences that if she revealed the same to anybody, he would kill her. Subsequently, two or three times, he abducted the victim girl from her house to his house and committed the penetrative sexual assault. Hence, he was charged for the offence under Sections 87, 332(b), 127(2), 351(2) of BNS and Section 5(l), 5(m) r/w 6 of POCSO Act, 2012.

3. The complaint was lodged by the mother of the victim girl under Ex.P1 and the same was received by P.W.9-.Tmt.Suseela, Special Sub Inspector of Police, Dindigul Rural AWPS, registered a case in Crime No.29 of 2024 under Sections 96, 127(2), 351(2) BNS and Section 5(l), 5(m) r/w 6 of the POCSO Act, on 05.08.2024 at 14.00 hours:

(a) P.W.10-Tmt.Sumathi, Inspector of Police, after receipt of the copy of the FIR, took up the case for investigation and went to the place of occurrence and prepared observation mahazar (Ex.P2) and rough sketch (Ex.P14) in the presence of the witnesses. She arrested the accused and sent him for remand.

(b) Thereafter, the statement of the victim girl was recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. She received the birth certificate of the victim girl Ex.P11.

(c) On 06.08.2024, she sent the victim girl for medical examination. P.W.6-Dr.Muthumamatha examined the victim girl and issued the accident register (Ex.P6) and stated that her hymen is not intact and there are no external injuries. Thereafter, P.W.10 obtained the school certificate of the victim girl (Ex.P5).

(d) She also sent a requisition to the Judicial Magistrate No.3, Dindigul, to examine the victim girl under Section 183(6)(a) of BNS and recorded her statement and it was recorded under Ex.P16.

(e) Thereafter, she sent the requisition for examining the accused for medical examination and Ex.P9 is the medical examination certificate issued to the accused by Dr. B. Thousif Ahamed, with an opinion that there is nothing to suggest that the accused in the case under reference is incapable of performing sexual intercourse and there is no external injury on the genitalia. She received the forensic report Ex.P17 and medical certificate Ex.P19. After completing the investigation, she filed a final report.

4. This case was taken on file as Special SC No.108 of 2024 on the file of the Special Court for POCSO Act Cases, Dindigul. On receipt of the records, the learned Sessions Judge, Special Court for POCSO Act case, Dindigul, framed the charges against the accused under Sections 332(b), 137(2), 127(2), 351(2) of BNS and Section 5(l), 5(m) r/w 6 of POCSO Act. The charges were read over and explained to the accused. The accused denied the charges and claimed to be tried. Therefore, the case was posted for trial.

5. On the side of the prosecution, 10 witnesses were examined as P.W.1 to P.W.10 and 20 documents were marked as Exs.P1 to P20. On the side of the accused, 3 witnesses were examined as D.W.1 to D.W.3, but no document was marked.

6. The Trial Court, on appreciation of the evidence, both oral and documentary, came to the conclusion that the accused is guilty and convicted him and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.1,00,000/- in default to undergo 1 year simple imprisonment for the offence under