WITNAR T. SANGMA Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is the usual appeal filed on behalf of the convict with counsel engaged by the Legal Services Authority. However, there is little room for the appellant to manoeuvre or wriggle out of the situation in view of the facts as they presented themselves before the Trial Court and the veritable admission on the part of the appellant.

(2.) The FIR was lodged by the 14-year-old victim's father on April 28, 2017, reporting of an incident that took place the previous afternoon. The victim's statements given in course of the investigation and her oral testimony in Court are clear and leave little room for doubt. Just as her father's FIR had indicated, the victim was returning from school between 3 pm and 4 pm on April 27, 2017, when she was accosted by the present appellant and another person who forcibly took her to the nearby jungle and raped her one after another. The two left the victim bleeding and threatened the victim not to narrate the incident to any person.

(3.) The victim identified the appellant in Court. The other person involved was discovered to be a juvenile and the matter pertaining to such other person was referred to the Juvenile Justice Board.