RAJESH SHARMA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been moved by the accused, Rajesh Sharma, against the judgment and order dated 11th May, 2006 and 17th May, 2006 wherein the appellant and the co-accused, Atma Ram, were convicted u/s 376 Indian Penal Code and were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years along with a fine of L 1,000/-, in default of which they were to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for one month.

(2.) The case against the accused, which resulted from a complaint made by Smt. Raj Laxmi, wife of the accused, is to the effect that their daughter Anuradha, aged about 11 years, was raped by the appellant as well as the co-accused Atma Ram, who is also the appellants friend.

(3.) The case of the prosecution is that the on 27th September, 2002, Smt. Raj Laxmi, wife of the accused, along with her daughter Anuradha, aged about 11 years, went to P.P. Palam Colony and informed the police that her husband, the accused, and his friend Atma Ram, the co- accused, had raped her minor daughter. The police thereafter recorded the statement of the prosecutrix/victim, Anuradha, to the effect that her father was a habitual drunkard and 3-4 months earlier her father had consumed liquor and had raped her. She further stated that a week later her father again raped her and this time his friend Atma Ram also raped her. The victim also stated that about 10- 12 days prior to the complaint, she was once again raped. However, it was only on 26th September, 2002 when the victims mother had come to attend the shradh of her grandfather that she disclosed these facts to her mother. It was then that the victim, accompanied by her mother, came to the police station to make a complaint against her father and his friend Atma Ram. On the statement of the victim, FIR No. 670/2002 was registered at police station Dabri u/s 376/34 IPC. In support of its case, the prosecution examined 14 witnesses in all, including the wife of the accused who is also the mother of the victim