BALAJI SADASHIV AKULWAR Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appeal is taken up for final hearing with the consent of respective counsel.

(2.) The appellant had initially filed Criminal Revision Application No. 143/2009, challenging the legality, propriety and correctness of the impugned judgment and order dated 2nd July, 2009 passed in Sessions Case No. 6/2009 by the learned Sessions Judge, Chandrapur. By the said order dated 12th August, 2009, this Court (Coram: Ganoo, J.) allowed the conversion of Revision into an Appeal, at the request of learned Advocate for the applicant. Thus, by the present Appeal, the appellant seeks to challenge the conviction of the appellant for offence punishable under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (In short "IPC"), whereby he was sentenced to suffer RI for seven years and to pay a fine in the sum of Rs. 3,000/- in default, to suffer further RI for six months.

(3.) The facts in brief, filtering out unnecessary details, are these: An illiterate widow, aged about 38 years, lodged a complaint giving rise to filing an FIR bearing No. 146/2008 on 30th June, 2008 registered at Chandrapur City Police Station for offence punishable under Section 376 IPC It was reported that on 30.06.2008 at about 11.00 a.m. while the first informant was busy in household chores in the kitchen room and was all alone, the appellant convict Balaji Akulwar entered in the kitchen. He was in an inebriated condition. All of sudden, he started pulling her nine yard Kasta saree. The first informant was naturally frightened to the hilt and shouted "save, save"; resisted the attempt on the part of the appellant; however, the appellant untied her saree overpowered her, in the process, she fell down. The appellant removed his trouser and underwear, slept on her person and forcibly indulged into sexual intercourse with her. Hearing the shrill cry of the prosecutrix, from the backside door, the niece of the first informant entered and seeing the incident she too started shouting. Ladies around the neighbourhood of the first informant gathered and, as such, the appellant took to his heels. Thereafter the first informant accompanied with her maternal aunt, went to Chandrapur City Police Station and lodged the complaint against the appellant. It appears that immediately the first informant was referred to a Hospital where she was medically examined, with observations indicating that her hymen was found ruptured. During the course of investigation on the same day, the appellant was zeroed down by the Police. It also appears that during the course of investigation, clothes of the first informant were seized and referred to Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Dhantoli, Nagpur. The appellant Balaji too was also referred for medical examination.