IBRAHIM P. Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner herein has been arrayed as the sole accused in the instant Crime No.172/2019 of Kottakkal Police Station, which has been registered for offences punishable under Secs.367 and 377 of the IPC and Secs.9l and 10 of the POCSO Act, 2012, on the basis of the FIS given by the minor victim boy aged 17 years on 7.9.2019 at about 9.37 pm in respect of the alleged two incidents which have happened for the period from April, 2019 to June, 2019. The petitioner has been arrested and remanded in this case on 18.9.2019 and has been under judicial custody since then.

(2.) The prosecution case in short is that, the petitioner accused aged 44 years had befriended the minor victim boy aged 17 years through Facebook and on a day during the abovesaid period the accused had taken the minor victim boy to a lodge where he had undressed the boy and the accused had placed his genital organ between the thighs of the boy, and given him money and told him not to disclose the said incident to anyone, etc. Later this was again repeated by the petitioner by taking the minor victim boy to another lodge.

(3.) It appears that, another person had also committed similar offence against the minor victim boy, about which there is reference in the instant FIS and later a separate crime has been registered against the said person, who was also arrested and remanded on the same day as in the case of instant crime and later he was let out on regular bail by the Special Court dealing with POCSO Cases, Malappuram, as per Anx.AIII order dated 5.10.2019 in Crl. M.P. No.2151/2019 in Crime No.173/2019 of Kottakkal Police Station. The allegation in the latter case is that , the said accused has committed the offence only once, whereas the allegation in the petitioner's case is that, he has committed the offence on two occasions.