KEERTHIRAJ Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is against the judgment and order dtd. 18/2/2020, passed by the Special Court for POCSO cases, Coimbatore, in Special C.C.No.10 of 2019, wherein the appellant was convicted for the offence under Ss. 5(l), 5(j) (ii) r/w 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (herein after called as POCSO Act) and sentenced to undergo Life Imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs.2,000.00 in default, to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for one year. The trial court further directed the Government to pay a compensation of Rs.3,00,000.00to the victim and a sum of Rs.2,00,000.00 to the female child born to the victim under Sec. 33(8) of POCSO Act r/w 7(2) of POCSO Rules 2012.

(2.) The case of the prosecution in nutshell is as follows:

(3.) The learned counsel for the appellant contended that this case is different from the other POCSO cases inasmuch as the appellant admitting his having sex with the victim and also owning up the child. He also undertook to bear the expenses which would be incurred towards maintenance of the child. The learned counsel also pointed out that the appellant in the same 313 Cr.PC statement had mentioned that both of them (he and the victim girl) were in love with each other and it was only because of the resistance from her family, it did not materialize. The learned counsel also added that the victim girl is also married as is seen from her evidence. Therefore, the plea of the learned counsel was for this Court to take a lenient view and reduce the sentence to the extent possible.