STATE Vs. XXX FATHER OF THE VICTIM CHILD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to as per their ranking before the trial Court. The victim for the sake of anonymity is referred to as 'victim'.

(2.) The brief facts leading to the institution of the Referred Trial and the Criminal Appeals, are as follows:

(3.) Since it is a Referred Trial, this Court issued notice to the accused, as they had not filed appeals against the conviction. After notice, both the accused were produced before this Court and they both submitted that they did not have any means to engage an Advocate to defend them. Therefore, this Court by an order dtd. 28/2/2023 appointed Mr.A.Ashwin Kumar for A1, as counsel on record and Mr.R.Rajarathinam, Sr. Counsel to lead him. Likewise, this Court appointed Mr.S.Ashok Kumar for A2, as counsel on record and Mr.Abudukumar Rajarathinam, Sr. Counsel to lead him. Thereafter, the accused preferred Criminal Appeals viz., Crl.A.No.427 of 2023 for A1 and Crl.A.No.392 of 2023 for A2.