PATNA, India, Oct. 31 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on Oct. 9:

Heard learned counsel for the appellant and learned Special Public Prosecutor for the State.

2. Despite the fact that the informant has entered appearance through her Advocate, no one has appeared on her behalf to contest the appeal.

3. This appeal is arising out of judgment of conviction dated 11.04.2022 (hereinafter referred to as the 'impugned judgment') and the order of sentence dated 19.04.2022 (hereinafter referred to as the 'impugned order') passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-III-cum-Special Judge, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Saharsa (hereinafter referred to as the 'learned trial court') in Special Case No. 58 of 2018 arising out of Mahishi P.S. Case No. 60 of 2018.

4. By the impugned judgment, the learned trial court has been pleased to convict the appellant for the offences punishable under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code (in short 'IPC') and Sections 3(1)(e)(r)(w), 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as the 'SC/ST Act').

5. By the impugned order, the appellant has been ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment for twenty years and to pay a fine of Rs.25,000/- for the offence under Section 376D IPC. For the offence under Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST Act, he has to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.25,000/-. For the offences under Sections 3(1)(e), 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(w) of the SC/ST Act, he has to further undergo six months simple imprisonment each and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- each. In case of default of payment of fine, he has to further undergo three months simple imprisonment. All the sentences shall run concurrently.

Prosecution Case 6. The prosecution case is based on the written application of the informant/victim (PW-2). In her written application, she has submitted that on 06.03.2018 at about 04:00 AM in the morning, when she was going towards the maize field to defecate, all of a sudden (1) Deepak Ray (this appellant) and (2) Rohit Ray caught her, slammed her in the maize field and committed rape on her one after another. Then the informant fell unconscious and the two accused persons left her in the maize field and fled away. When the informant's mother-in-law went to the maize field to attend nature's call, she heard the informant groaning and came running towards the maize field. The informant's mother-in-law took her to her house and the informant gave information about the incident to them. The informant stated that she belongs to Harijan community.

The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/NSMzNzUjMjAyMyMxI04=-i--ak1--LBq2vAapc=

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.