ARJUN DIYA Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has been convicted for having committed an offence punishable under Sec. 376(2)(f), (i) and (n) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 read with Sec. 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Following the judgment of conviction of December 11, 2019, the appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and fined Rs.50,000.00 by an order of December 31, 2019. In default of the payment of the fine, the appellant is to undergo simple imprisonment for a further six months.

(2.) The principal ground urged on behalf of the appellant is that there was no material to corroborate the wild allegations of the 13-year-old survivor and the discrepancies between her initial statement recorded under Sec. 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and her testimony in Court were too stark to be overlooked or ignored by the trial court. In addition, it is contended on behalf of the appellant that contrary to what was recorded in the first information report that the appellant had confessed to the commission of the offence before the Dorbar Shnong, there was no allusion to such confession by the headman of the village and, indeed, the headman testified that he had no inkling as to whether the appellant had committed the offence or not.

(3.) The third ground canvassed by the appellant is that the survivor bore a grudge against the appellant as the survivor testified that the appellant did not love her and the appellant was given to assaulting the survivor and the survivor's mother upon being drunk.