CHHOTU Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal has been filed by the appel-lants, Chhotu and Paigam Rasool, under Sec. 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, challenging the judgment and order dtd. 27/3/2018, passed by the Learned Additional Sessions Judge/ Special Judge, POCSO, Haridwar, in Sessions Trial No. 22 of 2015. The trial court convicted Chhotu under Ss. 302, 376/511, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), along with Sec-tions 7 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sentencing him to life imprisonment. Paigam Rasool was convicted un-der Sec. 201, IPC and sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.10,000..00 Aggrieved by this judgment, the appellants have preferred the present appeal.

(2.) The case arises from an FIR reg-istered on 15/4/2015 at Police Station SIDCUL, District Haridwar, based on a complaint filed by Ramgopal, the father of the deceased. The complainant stated that his seven- year-old daughter was found murdered inside their house, her throat slit, and blood splattered across the room. Upon returning from work, he was informed by his children and neighbours about the gruesome discovery. The police, after conducting an in-quest, initiated an investigation and filed Charge-sheet No. 53 of 2015 against the accused persons under Sec-tions 302, 201, 376, 511, IPC and Ss. 7/8 of the POCSO Act on 20/6/2015.

(3.) The prosecution primarily built its case on circumstantial evidence, al-leging that Chhotu, who was a garbage collector, attempted to sexually assault the victim and subsequently murdered her. The police also implicated Paigam Rasool, the owner of a garbage storage facility, for allegedly assisting Chhotu in concealing evidence. The key prosecution claim was based on the recovery of a bloodstained navy blue full- sleeved shirt with light blue dots, purportedly belonging to Chhotu, found in Paigam Rasool's garbage shed. The shirt was sent for Forensic examination before the FSL, Dehradun. The bundle was marked as - V, and the shirt within was marked as Exhibit -10. Human blood was said to have been detected as per the FSL Re-port, whereas it was reported that "Blood stains obtained from the shirt: exhibit-10 (said to be of the accused) is from the third human male source.