JUDGMENT

Sanjib Banerjee, CJ. - This is a routine appeal against a judgment of conviction and the consequent order of punishment made more with a prayer and hope than with any degree of conviction.

2. The appellant herein has been convicted for the commission of an offence under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and sentenced to undergo 15 years of rigorous imprisonment. In addition, the appellant has been fined Rs.20,000/-, which has to be paid to the victim. In default of the payment of the fine, the appellant is to suffer a further two months' imprisonment.

3. The judgment of conviction was passed on February 24, 2021 and the sentence was also pronounced on the same day. Though the appellant did not admit to having committed the offence, the order of sentence records in paragraph 6 that the appellant apparently pleaded for forgiveness and prayed to the court to award him the minimum sentence.

4. The incident is of September 25, 2016. It was a Sunday afternoon when the 11-year-old survivor was sent home from the church by her mother after the afternoon service so that she could get the food ready for the family meal. On the way home, the girl clai