Mahesh Grover, J. - (1.) THE Appellant has filed the present appeal against the conviction and sentence awarded to him by the Additional Sessions Judge, Ambala dated 27.1.1995.
(2.) THE Appellant was convicted and sentenced under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/ -. He was further sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of two years in default of payment of fine. On 4.4.1994, the prosecutrix aged eight years and a student of third class, went out at about 3 p.m. after attending to her mother, who was unwell. She did not return for a long period upon which her mother Smt. Devkali went outside and called out her name. Thereafter, Smt. Devkali saw Kumari Suman, the prosecutrix coming from the roof of the house of Ramjas, father of the accused through staircase, weeping. Her mother noticed that she was bleeding from her vagina, Kumari Suman disclosed to her mother that accused -Appellant Pappu had taken her to the roof under the pretext of playing and committed rape upon her by pressing her mouth. Thereafter, Devkali went to the house of Ramjas where accused Pappu was standing but he fled away on seeing her. Report was lodged with the police and investigation was conducted and challan under Section 173 Code of Criminal Procedure was presented against the accused -Appellant. The Appellant was charged for having committed an offence under Section 376 IPC. The prosecution examined a number of witnesses to establish the guilt of the Appellant. Accused -Appellant in his statement under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, denied the allegations and pleaded innocence. He stated that the prosecutrix and her parents had been using their latrine and he asked them not to use it and a day prior to the occurrence, he had abused and slapped Kumari Suman upon which she had made a complaint to her parents and thereupon, mother of prosecutrix Suman had come to his house and gave beatings and scolded him, then he had told mother of Suman that he would report the matter to the police and on account of this, he has been falsely implicated. It was further pleaded that Suman had received injuries by fall on the branches of a Shehtoot tree.
(3.) IN defence, the Appellant examined DW1 Jagdish Ram, who deposed that there are number of houses at the place of occurrence and one toilet is made for three houses. He also disclosed that there are four latrines for a cluster of 12 houses and that it was normal for one occupants of three houses to use one common latrine. He further deposed that at about 7 a.m. while he was standing in front of his house, he had heard noise from the house of Ramjas and upon reaching there, he noticed that a minor girl wanted to use the toilet of Ramjas but the accused was preventing her and had given 2 -3 slap blows to her upon which the girl had gone back to her house weeping. He had also deposed that accused is a matriculate and testified that accused -Appellant bears a good moral character.;