JUDGEMENT

This criminal appeal has been preferred against the Judgement dated

28.04.2025 passed in Spl.S.C.No.84 of 2020 by the learned Sessions Judge, Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases under POCSO Act, Chennai.

2. The case of the prosecution is that the victim was aged 7 years at the time of occurrence. While she was playing with her friend in front of the appellant's shop on 17.08.2020 at about 06.30 P.M., the appellant/accused called her to his salon shop with sexual intention and shut the door. Thereafter, the appellant touched the victim's breast area, left shoulder, left thigh, right side of the hip and held her hands. In continuation of the same, on another day, with a small DVD in his shop, the appellant had shown pornography to the victim child and rubbed her breast, back, and vagina, and also committed sexual assault. On lodgement of the complaint, the respondent registered the First Information Report in Crime No.6 of 2019 for the offence under Section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act , 2012 (hereinafter “the POCSO Act”). After completion of the investigation, a final report was filed before the Trial Court, where the charges were framed fo