PREMA LAMA @ MAMA Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant herein has been convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, vide impugned judgment dated 4.4.2009, passed by the learned Assistant Sessions Judge, Sonitpur at Tezpur, in Sessions Case No. 119 of 2008. After convicting the appellant for the offence of rape, he has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a term of 8 (eight) years along with payment of fine of Rs. 10,000/- with default stipulation of simple imprisonment for 1 (one) year. I have heard Sri R.P. Sarmah, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant as well as Sri B.B. Gogoi, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State of Assam. I have also perused the impugned Judgment and the prosecution evidence proffered during the trial. The defence case was of total denial and no evidence in defence was tendered.

(2.) It is a case of pedophilia. The appellant has allegedly sexually ravished a girl of 10 (ten) years. The prosecution story in brief is that the appellant was running a tea-stall, which was situated very close to the house of the victim girl. On 16.05.2008, at about 08:30 in the morning, the victim girl was playing in the open compound. Suddenly, her minor sister aged about 1 year entered the tea-stall of the appellant. Hence, the victim girl also went to the hotel of the appellant to bring back her sister. Then she was kept confined by the appellant and she was subjected to sexual assault.

(3.) After the incident, the victim girl returned home and as usual went to her school without reporting the incident of sexual assault to her parents. While the victim girl was in the school she felt bleeding in her vagina After returning home from the school the victim girl reported about bleeding to her mother and on being enquired she took the plea that the bleeding had occurred as she had fallen down in the school.