STATE OF KARNATAKA Vs. SANDEEP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by the Judgment dated 06.06.2019 passed by the learned Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bidar (hereinafter referred to as the 'Trial Court' for short), in Special Case (POCSO) No.119/2017, whereby, the trial Court has acquitted the accused of the offences punishable under Sections 376, 316 and 313 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4, 5(l), 6, 8 and 12 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as 'the POCSO Act' for short), the State has preferred the instant appeal.

(2.) Parties will be referred to as per their ranking before the Trial Court, for the sake of convenience.

(3.) The case of the prosecution is that the accused and the victim belong to a place Sindhool Thanda in Bidar District. In the year 2016, the victim girl was aged about 17 years. Her parents were working at the relevant point of time in Hyderabad and the victim used to live in Thanda with her brother. On 05.09.2016, the accused got acquainted with the victim when she had come to the Kirana Stores owned by one Ranjeet, brother of the accused. Since then, the accused began to talk to her and getting acquainted to her, which developed into a close relationship and thereafter, the accused on the false promise of marriage, seduced the victim, a minor girl. The accused forcibly raped her number of times taking her to the land of one Lalya Singh and later, to the school premises at Sindhol Thanda.