MANIKANDAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The conviction of the appellant and the sentence imposed on him in S.C.No.460 of 2014 on the files of the First Additional Sessions Court, Palakkad, are under challenge in this appeal.

(2.) The appellant is the sole accused in the case. The victim in the case is a girl aged 10 years. The accusation against the accused is that on 08.03.2014 and on several Saturdays prior to 08.03.2014, the accused took the victim girl from her house to a place near Kalpathy river and had sexual intercourse with her. It is also the accusation in the case that the accused has threatened the victim girl that he would kill her, if she reveals the occurrences to anybody. The offences alleged against the accused were, therefore, the offences punishable under Sections 376(2)(i), 376(2)(n) and Section 506(i) of the Indian Penal Code (the IPC ) and Sections 5(l) and 5(m) read with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (the POCSO Act).

(3.) On the accused pleading not guilty of the charges, the prosecution examined 15 witnesses as PW1 to PW15 and proved 16 documents as Exts.P1 to P16. The prosecution has also caused the witnesses examined on its side to identify MO1 and MO2 series material objects. The accused was, thereupon, questioned under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (the Code) as regards the incriminating circumstances brought out by the prosecution against him. The accused denied the same and maintained that he is innocent. Since the trial court did not consider the case to be one fit for acquittal under Section 232 of the Code, the accused was called upon to enter on his defence. The accused did not adduce any evidence.