NATHURAM Vs. STATE OF C.G.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of the present criminal appeal the appellant intends to challenge the judgment of conviction and the order of sentence dated 12.06.2003 passed by Third Additional Sessions Judge, (FTC) Mungeli, District-Bilaspur, in Sessions Trial No. 90/2000. By the said judgment the Court below has found the appellant to be guilty of having committed the offence punishable u/s. 376(1), 450, 366, 376(1) and 307 of I.P.C. and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years with fine of Rs. 2000/- under each of the sections with necessary default stipulations.

(2.) Facts leading to the instant criminal appeal is that about six months prior to 04.12.1999 the appellant/accused is said to have entered the house of the prosecutrix Bhanu Bai and there he is said to have forcefully committed sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix and thus have committed rape on the prosecutrix and thereafter on many occasions the appellant/accused is said to have on the pretext of marriage maintained the physical relationship with the prosecutrix on account of which she got conceived, and subsequently on the date of incident the appellant is said to have taken the prosecutrix from Mungeli to village Bilha where he took her to the Railway track near the Bilha Railway Station and there, also he committed sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix and thereafter threatened her of her life by pushing her in front of running train. The reason for threat and assault was that, in spite of the appellant/accused having asked the prosecutrix to get abortion of the pregnancy of the prosecutrix through the appellant but the prosecutrix has not accepted the same therefore, the appellant is said to have tried to assault the prosecutrix. With great difficulty she could free herself from the clutches of the appellant and she raised an alarm and on hearing the alarm one of the villager came forward and on seeing the villager the appellant/accused ranaway from the said place of occurrence.

(3.) The prosecutrix immediately took the shelter in the house of a lady at Bilha and thereafter she came to Bilaspur and from there to her village and informed her parents about the same and on the next date she alongwith her father, mother and the Kotwar of the village reported the matter to the Police authorities at Police Station-Mungeli. On receiving the report of the prosecutrix Police registered Crime No. 246/1999 and F.I.R. was lodged against the appellant/accused. During the course of investigation the statement of the relevant witnesses were recorded and all of them submits the fact that the appellant/accused had exploited the prosecutrix and subsequently refused to marry her in spite of the fact that she got conceived on account physical relationship with the appellant.