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2020 Supreme(Tri) 72
IN THE HIGH COURT OF TRIPURA AT AGARTALA
Akil Abdul Hamid Kureshi, Arindam Lodh, JJ.
Narayan Debnath - Appellants
Vs.
The State of Tripura - Respondent
Crl. A(J) No. 47 of 2019
Decided On : 07-07-2020
For the Appellant :R.G. Chakraborty and S. Chakraborty, Advocates
For the Respondents: S. Ghosh, Addl. P.P.
The credibility of the victim's testimony, corroborating evidence, and medical evidence are crucial in establishing guilt in cases of sexual assault.
Headnote:
POCSO - Conviction under Section 376(2)(i) of IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act - Section 376(2)(i) of IPC, Section 4 of the POCSO Act - Summary of the acts and sections referenced and discussed by the court
Fact of the Case:
The victim, an 8-year-old girl, was allegedly assaulted by the appellant in his shop. The victim disclosed the incident to her mother, leading to the filing of a complaint. The trial court convicted the appellant based on the victim's testimony and medical evidence.
Finding of the Court:
The court found the appellant guilty based on the victim's consistent testimony and medical evidence, dismissing the defense's claims of false implication and lack of evidence.
Issues: The main issues were the credibility of the victim's testimony, the presence of corroborating evidence, and the defense's claim of false implication.
Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on the victim's consistent testimony, the mother's corroboration, and medical evidence to establish the guilt of the appellant.
Final Decision: The court upheld the judgment and order of conviction and sentence, dismissing the appeal.
JUDGMENT :
Arindam Lodh, J.
1. In impugnment, is the judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 27.06.2019 respectively, passed by the learned Special Judge(POCSO), Sepahijala Judicial District, Bishalgarh, in case No. Special POCSO 10 of 2016, whereby and whereunder the appellant has been convicted under Section 376(2)(i) of IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act, and sentenced him to suffer RI for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default of payment of fine to suffer further imprisonment of 6(six) months, and further sentenced him to suffer RI for 10 years under Section 4 of the POCSO Act and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-, in default of payment of fine to undergo further imprisonment for 6(six) months. It was directed that both the sentences shall run concurrently.
2. The prosecution case, in a nutshell, is that on 07.12.2015, at about 6 a.m., the victim girl(here in after referred to as "victim" or "girl", according to the context) who was aged about 8 years and was a student of class-II, was waiting for the vehicle near the shop of the accused, Narayan Debnath at Kenania to go to her school, and at that time she went to the shop of the convict-appellant to purchase chips. The convict-appellant on seeing the victim called her inside his shop and made her to sit on his lap, and thereafter, he put his hand into her vagina. At that time, some people reached near the shop of the convict-appellant and the convict-appellant allowed the victim to leave his shop. On that night, the victim-prosecutrix disclosed the incident to her mother namely, Chinta Rani Debbarma. On the next day, the informant, Radha Charan Debbarma, who is the father of the victim girl, lodged a complaint with the Bishalgarh Women Police Station about the incident.
3. On receipt of the complaint, the Officer-In-Charge of the Bishalgarh Women Police Station registered Case No. 2015 BLGW 40 of 2015 dated 08.12.2015 under Section 376(2)(i) of IPC and under Section 4 of the POCSO Act.
4. Being endorsed, the investigating officer took up the case for investigation, recorded the statements of the material witnesses under Section 161 of Cr.P.C., arranged for medical examination of the victim-girl, and also the investigating officer had ensured recording of statements of the victim-girl (PW2) and Smt. Chinta Rani Debbarma (PW3) under Section 164(5) of the Cr.P.C., and accordingly, the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class had recorded the statements of the victim-girl (PW2) as well as Smt. Chinta Rani Debbarma (PW3) under Section 164(5) of Cr.P.C. The investigating officer also seized the school certificate of the victim and visited the place of occurrence accompanied by the victim and her parents and prepared the hand-sketch map.
5. After completion of the investigation, the investigating officer submitted the charge-sheet against the accused-appellant and the learned Special Judge after taking cognizance had framed the following charges:-
"Firstly, that you on 07.12.2015 at about 6.00 A.M. at South Kenania inside your shop at Kamalasagar under Bishalgarh PS committed rape upon xxxxx (name kept withheld) who was 8 years old at that time and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 376(2)(i) of the IPC and within the cognizance of this Special Court.
Secondly, that on the same date, time and place you committed penetrative sexual assault upon xxxx (name kept withheld), and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 4 of the POCSO Act, 2012, and within the cognizance of this special court."
6. During trial, the prosecution examined as many as 10 witnesses. On completion of recording of evidence, the accused was examined under Section 313 of Cr.P.C., to which he strongly denied the allegations brought against him by the prosecution and claimed to be tried.
7. The learned Special Judge(POCSO) took up the following points for discussions and decision:
"(i) Whether on 07.12.15 at about 6 a.m. at south Kenania accused Narayan Debnath comm
