MAROTI MAHADUJI WANKHEDE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The accused faced trial for offence punishable under Section 376 (2)(f) of the Indian Penal Code (" IPC " for short) and is convicted for offence punishable under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and is sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for two years and to payment of fine of Rs.2,000/- by the judgment and order dated 07-1-2006 passed by the learned IInd Ad hoc Additional Sessions Judge, Achalpur, which is assailed in the appeal.

(2.) The gist of the prosecution case is that at 4-00 p.m. on 24-1-2003 when the child victim, then aged 6 years, was playing on a bullock-cart, the accused approached her, bodily lifted her and took her to the banana orchard of one Chandrasen Wankhade. The child victim was made to lie on the ground, the accused removed his dhoti and the knicker of the child victim and slept over the person of the child victim. The parents of the child victim arrived at the scene, a verbal altercation ensued and the accused threatened Ashok-the father of the child victim with a stick and left the spot. The father of the child victim made enquiries, the child victim narrated the incident to her father Ashok who then went to the residence of his employer Chandrasen, who was not present in the house. Ashok waited for Chandrasen to return till evening and then went to Anjangaon Police Station with the child victim and lodged the report on the basis of which offence punishable under Sections 376 and 354 of the IPC was registered and then the child victim was sent for medical examination. Police Sub-Inspector Dhere visited the spot, prepared the spot panchanama (Exhibit 14), seized clothes wore by the child victim, arrested the accused and seized his clothes vide Exhibit 16, collected blood sample and vaginal swab of the child victim and collected seized blood and semen sample of the accused. The seized articles were sent to Chemical Analyzer, Nagpur. Upon completion of the investigation, charge-sheet was submitted in the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Anjangaon Surji who committed the case to the Sessions Court. The learned Sessions Judge framed charge under Section 376(2)(f) of the IPC against the accused. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. The defence of the accused is that since there was a quarrel between the father of the child victim and the accused on the issue of cutting grass, he is falsely implicated.

(3.) The spot panchanama, the medical examination certificate of the child victim (Exhibit 25) and that of the accused (Exhibit 27) are admitted by the defence. The prosecution examined four witnesses.