SONU Vs. STATE OF NCT OF DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of the present appeal filed under Sec. 415(2) r/w Sec. 528 of BNSS 2023, the appellant assails the judgment of conviction dtd. 8/8/2022 as well as order on sentence dtd. 8/9/2022 passed in S.C No. 23/2018 arising out of FIR No. 696/2017 registered under Ss. 342/377 IPC and Sec. 6 POCSO Act at P.S. Rajouri Garden, Delhi.

(2.) The FIR in the present case came to be registered under Ss. 342/377 IPC and Sec. 6 of the POCSO Act in the context of an incident that statedly occurred on 6/12/2017 on the statement of one Lakshan Rana (complainant herein), who stated that on that day while he and his friend Bhawna Sharma were driving near backside of Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre at Shivaji Enclave when one woman named Seema waived and stopped their car She disclosed that she could hear the screams of a child from the drainage pipe near the bushes. When the complainant reached near the drainage pipe he saw that in the pipe one person was sitting inside with a child and his pants were halfway down and he was trying to bring mouth of the victim towards his exposed crotch area which the child was resisting and saying that the said person had put his penis in his mouth. The said person (appellant herein) was dragged out, and a police call was made. The appellant was arrested from the spot, and the child victim was taken to the hospital for medical examination. On completion of the investigation, the charge sheet was filed and the charges were framed under Ss. 363/367/323/342/506/ 377 IPC and Sec. 6 of POCSO Act vide order dtd. 5/3/2018, to which the appellant pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

(3.) In total, the prosecution examined 9 witnesses. The child victim was examined as PW1, the complainant, namely Lakshan Rana and his friend Bhawna Sharma were examined as PW4 and PW2, respectively. Another eye witness, namely, Seema, the lady who stopped the car was examined as PW3. The mother of the child victim was examined as PW5. The age of the child victim was proved through the statement of Jai Prakash (PW8), Vice Principal of the school where the child victim was studying. Dr. Rochan, Sr. Resident Surgery, Guru Govind Singh Hospital was examined as PW9 who proved the MLC of the child victim. The appellant claimed false implication in the present case, however, did not examine any defence witnesses.