BANTI Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard.

(2.) The appellant/accused was tried in Special Case (POCSO) No. 227/2017 and convicted by the Special Judge for the offence punishable under Section 376(i) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for short 'POCSO Act') and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/-, in default of payment of fine, to suffer further rigorous imprisonment for 1 year. The said judgment of conviction and sentence has been challenged by accused in this appeal in terms of Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

(3.) The prosecution case in short is that the victim girl aged 7 years was residing along with her parents and two sisters. accused was residing in the nearby cattle shed. The victim's mother was providing tiffin to her father-in-law who was also residing in the same cattle shed. The accused used to return empty tiffin at victim's house. On 02.10.2017 around 02.00 p.m., victim's mother had gone to the School to fetch her elder daughter. The victim was alone at her house.