STATE OF HP Vs. MAHESH KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal by the State is directed against the judgement dated 26.3.1999 delivered by the Learned Sessions Judge, Solan in Sessions Trial No.27-S/7 of 1998 whereby he acquitted the accused of having committed an offence punishable under Section 376, IPC while convicting him of having committed offences under Sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) The prosecution story, in brief, is that the father of the prosecutrix (PW/5) is running a Dhaba at Kaithlighat. The accused who is a truck driver used to stop his truck off and on at his dhaba to take tea and used to tease his daughters including the prosecutrix who used to help her parents in running the dhaba. The case of the prosecution is that the prosecutrix was only about 12-13 years of age on 25th August, 1999 when the accused called the prosecutrix and took her towards the Railway tunnel on the pretext that he wanted to have some talk with her. Admittedly, even as per the version of the prosecutrix, from Kaithlighat, they walked to Kandaghat on the Railway Track. At Kandaghat, they took a bus for Solan. At Solan, the prosecutrix was taken to the house of one Sh.Vijay Kumar where she was allegedly raped by the accused. Later in the same evening, the accused took her to Ambala.

(3.) In the meantime, the father of the prosecutrix lodged a complaint with the police and received some information that the prosecutrix had been taken by the accused towards Ambala. The complainant and the police officials went to Ambala and the prosecutrix was found there and handed over to her father. The prosecutrix was got medically examined and it was found that there were no marks of injury on the body of the prosecutrix. It was also found that the hymen of the prosecutrix was ruptured and had healed long time earlier. No other injury was found on the body of the prosecutrix.