SEIBORLANG SYIEM Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. S. Kumar learned counsel for the petitioners who has submitted that admittedly the petitioner No.1 and petitioner No.3 were involved in a love relationship and in the process thereof, the couple got involved in a consensual sexual relationship resulting in the petitioner No.3 the alleged victim girl becoming pregnant.

(2.) As a matter of course, the petitioner No.3 visited the Tirot Sing Memorial Hospital, Mairang in the then West Khasi Hills District and after being examined by the Medical and Health Officer present in the hospital, she subsequently gave birth to a child on 6/11/2019. The petitioner No.3 was about 17 years old at that point of time which fact was reported to the Officer-In-Charge Mairang Police Station by the Medical and Health Officer of the said hospital. On receipt of the said information, a police SubInspector lodged a formal FIR before the Officer-In-Charge Mairang Police Station implicating the petitioner No.1 as the one who has impregnated the petitioner No.3 who was a minor at that point of time.

(3.) As a matter of course, a criminal case was registered being Mairang PS Case No. 50(11)2019 under Sec. 3(a)/4 of the POCSO Act. In course of investigation, the Investigating Officer (I/O) submitted the charge sheet against the petitioner No.1 and the matter proceeded for trial before the court of the learned Special Judge, West Khasi Hills. As of date, about 6 prosecution witnesses have been examined including the petitioner No.3/alleged victim girl, her parents and siblings as well as the mother of the petitioner No.1/accused.