ALAN SOHSHANG Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has been convicted for having committed an offence punishable under Sec. 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years. In addition, the appellant has been fined Rs.10,000.00 and required to suffer a further month's simple imprisonment upon failing to pay the fine.

(2.) Several grounds have been raised by the appellant in assailing the judgment of conviction of February 24, 2021 and the resultant sentence. For a start, the appellant says that the foundational fact for invoking the provisions of the Act of 2012 was not established as the age of the survivor was not ascertained. In such regard, the appellant says that it was only a photocopy of the birth certificate that was relied upon though the appellant had indicated that the appellant perceived the survivor to be 18 years old and the appellant also claimed that the survivor had informed the appellant that she was 18 years old.

(3.) The second ground urged is the delay in the lodging of the first information report on or about April 11, 2016 when the incident complained of was in early January of 2016. While on the aspect of delay, the appellant seeks to bring out the perceived contradiction in the statements rendered by the survivor and her mother as to when the survivor informed the mother of the alleged incident of January, 2016. The appellant reads the survivor's testimony to imply that she had complained of the incident to her mother a week after it occurred; while the mother consistently claimed in her several statements that she came to know of the incident only on April 8, 2016.