SHAHUL AMEER Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant is the accused in S.C. No. 541 of 2016 on the file of the Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act Cases, Manjeri. In the said case, he faced indictment for having committed offences punishable under Ss. 363 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Sec. 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

(2.) By the impugned judgment, he was found guilty and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and ordered to pay a fine of Rs.10,000.00, in default of which, he was to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three months for the offence punishable under Sec. 366 of the IPC. He was also sentenced to imprisonment for life and directed to pay a fine of Rs.10,000.00, in default of which, he was to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three months for the offences punishable under Sec. 376 of the IPC r/w. Sec. 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

(3.) The prosecutrix, a 25-year-old woman, belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. She had completed her Hotel Management course. The accused is a Muslim by faith. As per the charge, the accused, despite not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, made acquaintance with PW1, fully aware that she was a member of a Scheduled Caste. He allegedly promised to marry her and, on the basis of such false promise, abducted her on 9/6/2015, instructing her to meet him at the Nilambur Bus Stand. From there, the prosecutrix was taken to a rented building in Chenakkal, where, without her consent, the accused subjected her to sexual intercourse from 10/6/2015 to 13/6/2015. By his acts, the accused is alleged to have committed offences punishable under Ss. 363 and 376 of the IPC, along with Sec. 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.