2024:BHC-NAG:14257 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR.

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 782 OF 2022 APPELLANT : Vijay @ Bablya S/o. Ashok Ingale, Aged about 30 Years, Occ: Labour, R/o. Tamasi, Tq. Balapur & Dist.

Akola.

//VERSUS//

RESPONDENTS : 1. State of Maharashtra, through its Police Station Officer, Police Station Balapur, Tq. Balapur, Dist. Akola. 2. XYZ (Victim), through its P.S.

Balapur, Distt. : Akola in Crime No.459/2018.

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Mr. S.V. Sirpurkar, Advocate for the Appellant.

Mr. A.R. Chutke, APP for Respondent No.1/State.

Ms. Mitisha Kotecha, Advocate (appointed) for Respondent No.2.

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CORAM : G. A. SANAP, J .

DATED : 9 ^th DECEMBER , 2024 .

JUDGMENT . In this appeal, challenge is to the judgment and order dated 14.09.2022, passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge (POCSO Act), Akola, whereby the learned Judge convicted the appellant for the offences punishable under Sections 376(3) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, “IPC”) and under Section 3 punishable under Section 4 and under Section 5(m) punishable under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for short, “POCSO Act”), and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and to pay a fine of Rs.20,000/- and in default to suffer further simple imprisonment for 2 months for the offence punishable under Section 376(3) of the IPC and rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default to suffer simple imprisonment for 15 days for the offence punishable under Section 506 of the IPC. No separate sentence has been awarded for the offences under Section 3 punishable under Section 4 and under Section 5(m) punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

02] Background Facts:

The informant (PW-1) is the mother of the victim, who at the time of the incident, was about 4 years old. The case of prosecution, which can be unfolded from the report and other materials, is that on the date of the incident, i.e., on 11^th October, 2018, the informant, along with her husband and younger daughter, had gone for work in the morning. She returned back at about 4:00 p.m. The victim-girl came to her and started crying. The informant made the victim sleep. The victim woke up at about 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. and went for urination. At that time, the victim started crying. After urination, the informant made an enquiry with the victim. The victim told that she had sustained injury to her urinal place due to touching of the stick. The informant verified her urinal place and found that it was reddish with swelling. In the night on arrival of the father of the victim, the informant told him about the same. There was no doctor in the village, and therefore they decided to take the victim to the doctor at Balapur on the next day in the morning. The victim was crying whole night due to pain in her private part.

03] It is stated that, on the next day in the morning at about 11:00 a.m., the informant took the victim to the doctor, Smt. Pahurkar, at Balapur. The doctor examined the victim and her private part. On examination of the private part of the victim, the doctor told the informant that the injury to the private part of the victim was not due to touching of the stick. The doctor suspected that someone had committed an offensive act with the victim. The doctor, Smt. Pahurkar, gave a chocolate to the victim and consoled her. The doctor, Smt. Pahurkar, after taking the victim in confidence, made an enquiry with her. The victim narrated the incident. The victim told the doctor that when her parents had gone to the field yesterday, Shaurya’s Baba Bablaya took her in his house. He made her lie down, removed her knickers and lied on her body. Thereafter, she had a severe pain in her urinal place. The victim further told the doctor that the appellant threatened to kill her parents in case