NEW DELHI: A court has convicted a juvenile of raping two minor girls in 2017, holding that the prosecution has duly established that the child in conflict (CCL) with law committed rape or aggravated penetrative sexual assault on both the victims.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat was hearing the case against the juvenile accused who was charged under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for raping the minor girls, aged seven and around four years.
“Conclusively, it can be said that the prosecution has duly proved its case beyond any reasonable doubt that CCL committed rape or aggravated penetrative sexual assault of both the victims,” the court said in an order passed on Tuesday.
Special Public Prosecutor Vijay Dahiya appeared on behalf of the State.
The court said though the investigating officer (IO) had erred in not recording the victims’ statements within the prescribed time and not seizing the torn clothes of one of them, it did not mean that the offence was not committed.
“Accordingly, the other evidences cannot be allowed to become waste due to negligence on the part of IO,” it said.
There was nothing on record to suggest that the victims were tutored, the court said, adding medical examination of the victims corroborated their testimonies. It said the victims had been medically examined the day the offence took place.
“The said medical observations indicate towards one reasoning only that forcible rape or penetrative sexual assault was committed upon both victims,” the court said.
The court said though one of the victims did not identify the accused in the court, the “missing link” in her testimony was provided by the forensic science laboratory (FSL) report, according to which, her blood was found on the accused’s pyjama.