SASI @ KAKKAKOTHI Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant is the sole accused in S.C.No.301 of 2016 on the files of the Additional Sessions Court for the trial of cases relating to atrocities and sexual violence against women and children, Thiruvananthapuram. The accused stands convicted for the offences punishable under Ss. 450 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (the IPC) and Sec. 3(a) read with Sec. 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (the POCSO Act).

(2.) The victim in the case is a minor girl aged 14 years. The occurrence, which is the subject matter of the case, took place on 12/2/2016. At the relevant time, the father of the victim was working abroad and the only sibling of the victim was not residing with the family of the victim. On 12/2/2016, the victim who had gone to school as usual, came back home, as there were no classes on the said day. The mother of the victim had to go to the office of the panchayat on that day for presenting the bill in connection with the work carried on by her in her capacity as the Convenor of a work group, leaving the victim alone at the house. The accused is a neighbour of the victim. He was aged 65 years at the relevant time. The accusation against the accused as stated in the final report is that at about 1.45 p.m. on 12/2/2016, the accused trespassed into the bedroom of the house of the victim, dragged the victim, who was watching television then lying on the bed in the room, after closing her mouth, to the adjoining room and raped her.

(3.) On the accused pleading not guilty of the charges framed against him for the offences referred to above, the prosecution examined 19 witnesses as PW1 to PW19 and proved through them 20 documents as Exts.P1 to P20. The prosecution has also caused the witnesses examined on its side to identify the material objects in the case namely MO1 to MO4, of which MOs 1 to 3 were the clothes worn by the victim and MO4 was the dhoti worn by the accused at the time of the alleged occurrence. The accused was, thereupon, questioned under Sec. 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (the Code) as regards the incriminating circumstances brought out by the prosecution and he denied the same. Since the trial court did not find the case to be one fit for acquittal under Sec. 232 of the Code, the accused was called upon to enter on his defence. The accused did not adduce any evidence.