RAVI SHANKAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant Ravi Shankar by the impugned judgment dated 21st December 2010 has been convicted under Section 363/366/302 IPC for kidnapping the minor girl S (name withheld), aged 5, with intent of having an illicit intercourse, and thereafter strangulating her to death. By order of sentence dated 13th January 2011, the appellant has been sentenced, under Section 302 IPC, to undergo life imprisonment, and to make payment of fine of Rs 10000.00, in default of which he is to undergo RI for six months. Under Section 366 IPC he is to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and pay fine of Rs 5000.00, in default of which, he shall undergo SI for six months. Under Section 363 IPC he has been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs 5000.00, in default of which, simple imprisonment for six months shall be undergone. All the sentences are to run concurrently and benefit under Section 428 Cr.P.C. is given. He has however been acquitted under Section 376 IPC for lack of evidence.

(2.) PROSECUTION version in a nutshell is as follows: on 28th December 2006 the appellant, who worked as a ,,baildar with the deceaseds father (PW-6), came to their house at A-39 Prem Nagar- I, Sultan Puri, Delhi and at 6.00 P.M. took along 5 years old S (now deceased) for a walk on the pretext of treating her to toffees. The two did not return. After much search, the next day on 29th December 2006, at 2.30 P.M. FIR No. 2107/06 (Ex.PW 1/A) was registered under Section 363 IPC on the basis of statement (Ex PW 6/A) made by Prem Pal (PW-6), girls father, in which it is alleged that the appellant had taken away S in the ruse of buying her toffees. Thereafter, efforts were made by the police to trace the appellant and finally, seven days after the occurrence, on 4th January, 2007 the police team managed to apprehend him from Swarna Park, Nagloi. Pursuant to the disclosure made by the appellant, the dead body of S was ultimately recovered from the mustard fields situated towards the south side of main Rohtak Road near village Hiran Khudna, Delhi, belonging to Sukbir Singh Rana (PW-8). He was arrested vide arrest memo (Ex.PW 10/A) at 5.15 P.M. on the same day and the father (PW-6) and his brother Banwari Lal came for identification of the corpse at around 7.00 P.M. The next day, on 5th January 2007, post mortem of the deceased was conducted.

(3.) ON Internal examination "lavia majora b/c boosead lancination of lavia minora smeared with mucord discharge" was found on the genital organs. The appellant was medically examined on 5th January 2007 at 1.25 A.M. by Dr. Indermeet Singh (PW-18) at CMO Sanjay Gandhi Hospital and it was verified that the appellant was sexually potent.The post mortem is suggestive of the fact that the deceased was sexually assaulted before she was strangulated to death; although the Trial Court has held that charges against the appellant under Section 376 IPC could not be proved because as per the FSL reports (Ex. PX and PX-1) as no semen could be detected from the clothes or vaginal swab of the deceased. On the appellants undergarment and deceaseds clothes Blood Group ,,A" was found, but the blood group could not be matched with the appellants blood sample as the same had putrefied. However, we shall not dwell further into these aspects as the State has not appealed against appellants acquittal under Section 376 IPC.