JUDGMENT

(Judgment of the Court was made by the Hon'ble P.VELMURUGAN J.

This criminal appeal is filed against the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Principal Special Court for exclusive Trial of Cases under POCSO Act, Thanjavur, in Special SC No.04 of 2022, dated 08/05/2025 and consequently to acquit the appellant.

2.The case of the prosecution is that the victim child is aged about 12 years at the time of the occurrence and she was studying 8^th Standard. The de-facto complainant is the mother of the victim child. The accused is the step father of the victim chid. The first husband of the de- facto complainant fell in a well and passed away 10 years back. When the de-facto complainant was working in Coimbatore, relationship developed between herself and the accused and thereafter, she lived with the accused along with her son and the victim child, who were born through the deceased first husband. They were working in the brick-kiln. When there was no work in the brick-kiln, the accused went to Karur and doing welding work. In the meantime, on 03/08/2021 at 12.00 midnight, the accused touched the breasts of the victim child, inserted his genital