* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Reserved on : 25.07.2025 Pronounced on : 30.07.2025 + CRL.A. 1190/2024 SONU S/O SHRI BEN SINGH .....Appellant Through: Ms. Manika Tripathy (DHCLSC) and Mr. Aakash Mahor and Mr. Gautam Yadav, Advocates.

versus STATE OF NCT OF DELHI .....Respondent Through: Ms. Shubhi Gupta, APP for State with SI Jay Prakash, P.S. Rajouri Garden.

Mr. Prateek Kumar, Ms. Ankita and Mr. Prassant Kumar Sharma, Advocates for victim/complainant.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ KUMAR OHRI

JUDGMENT

1. By way of the present appeal filed under Section 415(2) r/w Section 528 of BNSS 2023, the appellant assails the judgment of conviction dated 08.08.2022 as well as order on sentence dated 08.09.2022 passed in S.C No. 23/2018 arising out of FIR No. 696/2017 registered under Sections 342/377 IPC and Section 6 POCSO Act at P.S. Rajouri Garden, Delhi.

On being convicted, vide order on sentence, the appellant has been sentenced to undergo; RI for 3 years for the offence punishable under Section 363 IPC in addition to payment of fine amounting to Rs.1000/-, in default whereof he was directed to undergo S.I. for 3 months; RI for 4 years Signature Not Verified CRL.A. 1190/2024 PaSgigen e1d Boyf: G7A UTAM for the offence under Section 367 IPC alongwith fine amounting to Rs.2000/-, in default whereof he was directed to undergo S.I. for 3 months; RI for 10 years for the offence under Section 377 IPC and he was further sentenced to undergo RI for 10 years for the offence under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, alongwith fine amounting to Rs.5000/- to be paid for conviction under both these sections, in default whereof he was directed to undergo S.I. for 6 months.

Further, for the commission of offences under Section 323 & 342 IPC, the accused was sentenced to a fine of Rs.1000/- each, and for the offence under Section 506 IPC, he was sentenced to fine of Rs.2000/-. All the sentences have been directed to run concurrently. The appellant was also given the benefit of Section 428 CrPC.

2. The FIR in the present case came to be registered under Sections 342/377 IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act in the context of an incident that statedly occurred on 06.12.2017 on the statement of one Lakshan Rana (complainant herein), who stated that on that day while he and his friend Bhawna Sharma were driving near backside of Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre at Shivaji Enclave when one woman named Seema waived and stopped their car She disclosed that she could hear the screams of a child from the drainage pipe near the bushes. When the complainant reached near the drainage pipe he saw that in the pipe one person was sitting inside with a child and his pants were halfway down and he was trying to bring mouth of the victim towards his exposed crotch area which the child was resisting and saying that the said person had put his penis in his mouth. The said person (appellant herein) was dragged out, and a police call was made. The appellant was arrested from the spot, and the child victim was taken to the Signature Not Verified CRL.A. 1190/2024 PaSgigen e2d Boyf: G7A UTAM hospital for medical examination. On completion of the investigation, the charge sheet was filed and the charges were framed under Sections 363/367/323/342/506/ 377 IPC and Section 6 of POCSO Act vide order dated 05.03.2018, to which the appellant pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

3. In total, the prosecution examined 9 witnesses. The child victim was examined as PW1, the complainant, namely Lakshan Rana and his friend Bhawna Sharma were examined as PW4 and PW2, respectively. Another eye witness, namely, Seema, the lady who stopped the car was examined as PW3. The mother of the child victim was examined as PW5. The age of the child victim was proved through the statement of Jai Prakash (PW8), Vice Principal of the school where the child victim was studying. Dr. Rochan, Sr. Resident Surgery, Guru Govind Singh Hospital was examined as PW9 who proved the MLC of the child victim. The appellant