STATE OF UTTARAKHAND Vs. MANOJ SHARMA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) State has preferred this appeal assailing the judgment and order dated 07.07.2010 passed by Sessions Judge, Pithoragarh in Sessions Trial No.56 of 2005 whereby learned Sessions Judge has acquitted the respondents of the charge punishable under Section 376 IPC.

(2.) Brief facts of the present case, inter alia, are that PW1 lodged an FIR with police station Kotwali, Pithoragarh on 12.04.2004 to the effect that on 22.03.2004, when she was going to LMS Girls Inter College, Bhatkot, then Manoj Sharma, a driver, who resides in her Mohalla, met her and told her that he wanted to marry her, therefore, he would speak to her parents; thereafter, he took her in Jamini Photo Studio where their photographs were taken and therefrom, he took her to Ulka Devi Temple and thereafter, he took her to Pines (Cheed) Forest about 1 km. towards west of Ulka Devi Temple and started touching her. PW1 tried to stop him, thereupon, Manoj Sharma showed her condom and assured her that nothing would happen while doing intercourse; thereafter Manoj Sharma raped her in the Pines Forest; on the next day, i.e. on 23.03.2004 when her father went to Tanakpur, her younger brother Sunil was outside the house to play, she came near the house of house of Manoj, in the search of her brother, Pappu alias Prem Singh, who was a conductor with Manoj Sharma, met her and called her in his house and told her that he knew Manoj had raped her and he would disclose the same to her parents, in case, she refused to have sexual intercourse with him, thereafter, Pappu also committed rape upon her by using contraceptive viz. condom. Out of fear, she did not utter even a single word to anyone. Second day i.e. on 25.03.2004, she again came out of her house at about 07.30 p.m. in search of her brother Sunil again Manoj met her and made promise to marry her and took her to his room. In the room, she found Pappu, who was tenant in Raee Dhara and Kishore were present. On the same pretext, all of them also raped her. Trilok was also present in the room and he also raped her. She further stated that besides these boys, her uncle Suresh Makholia had also raped her. She did not disclose all this, either to her parents or to anybody else, due to fear and public shame. Manoj, kept on making sexual relations with her, on the pretext of marriage vows. On 09.04.2004, she narrated the entire story to her parents, thereafter, came to lodge a report in the police station.

(3.) Having investigated the matter, police submitted a charge-sheet against all the accused respondents. From the side of prosecution, prosecutrix PW1 Pushpa Makholiya, PW2 Dr. Usha Gunjyal, PW3 Kamla Devi, PW4 Girish Chandra and PW5 Constable Keshav Lal were examined.