Patna High Court
Bhupendra Kumar vs The State Of Bihar on 27 April, 2026
Author: Prabhat Kumar Singh
Bench: Prabhat Kumar Singh
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL APPEAL (SJ) No.6 of 2016
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-24 Year-2014 Thana- BARHARA KOTHI District- Purnia
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Bhupendra Kumar Son of Nago Sada, Resident of Village - Orha, Police
Station - Triveniganj in the District of Supaul.
... ... Appellant/s
Versus
The State Of Bihar
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Appellant/s : Mr.Raj Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr.Bipin Kumar App
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRABHAT KUMAR SINGH
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 27-04-2026
Heard learned counsel for the appellant and learned
A.P.P. for the State.
2. This appeal has been filed against the judgment of
conviction dated 29.09.2015 and order of sentence dated
30.09.2015 passed by the learned Additional District & Sessions
Judge - 1st Purnea in connection with Sessions Trial No. 107 of
2015 / Trial No. 38 of 2015 (CIS No. 73 of 2015), arising out of
Barhara (Raghubans Nagar) P.S. Case No. 24 of 2014,
corresponding to G.R. Case No. 729 of 2014. By the said
judgment, the appellant has been convicted for offence under
Section 366-A of the Indian Penal Code and has been sentenced to
undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for five years and pay a fine of
Rs. 5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) and in default of payment of
fine, he was sentenced to further undergo one year rigorous
imprisonment.
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026
2/8
3. Prosecution case, as contained in the written report of
informant, in brief, is that on 16.02.2014 in the mid-night, three
boys, namely, Bhupendra Kumar (appellant herein), Niraj Mahto
and Mukesh Kumar kidnapped the informant's daughter, namely,
Annu Kumari, aged about 14 years, with intent to marry her.
4. On the basis of written report of informant, Barhara
(Raghubansh Nagar) P.S. Case No. 24 of 2014 was registered,
under Section 366-A/34 of the Indian Penal Code against aforesaid
three boys, including this appellant. After investigation, the police
submitted chargesheet against all the three accused, including this
appellant, for the offence under Section 366-A/34 of the Indian
Penal Code and thereafter, the learned Magistrate, vide order dated
26.03.2014, took cognizance against all the three accused persons.
Out of three accused persons, case of other two accused namely Niraj Mahto and Mukesh Kumar was separated and they were sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, Purnea for trial and disposal. Thereafter, vide order dated 29.01.2015, the case of appellant/ Bhupendra Kumar was committed to the Court of Sessions and vide order dated 16.05.2015, the learned A.D.J.-I, Purnea framed charge under Section 366-A/34 I.P.C. against the accused- appellant, who pleaded not guilty, and claimed to be tried and accordingly, he was put on trial. Thereafter, his statement under Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026 3/8 Section 313 Cr.P.C. was also recorded, in which, he claimed to be innocent.
5. In this case, in order to bring home guilt of the accused person, the prosecution has examined altogether six witnesses, namely, P.W.-1 Asha Devi @ Abha Devi (wife of informant), P.W.-2 Babli Kumari (sister of the victim), P.W.-3 Sikandar Mandal, P.W.-4 Naresh Prasad Singh (Informant), P.W.-5 Dr. Banita Bhagat, and P.W.-6 Yogendra Prasad Singh (I.O. of the case), whereas Victim has been examined as Court witness No. 1.
6. The prosecution also proved the some documents, such as, Written report (Ext.1), Statement of victim recorded u/s 164 Cr.P.C. (Ext.2), Medical report (Ext.3), Charge-sheet (Ext.4), and Formal FIR (Ext.5).
7. In course of trial, P.W.1, P.W.2 & P.W.3 are consistent in their evidence and have supported the version of informant.
8. The informant Naresh Prasad Singh (P.W.4) deposed that in the night of 16.02.20 about 12:30 A.M., his daughter Annu Kumari disappeared from the house. During search, he came to know that this appellant, in connivance with Niraj and Mukesh, kidnapped his daughter with intent to marry her, then he (informant) filed a written application before the police and thereafter, police recovered his daughter from the house of Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026 4/8 appellant at Supaul, and thereafter, she was brought and her statement was recorded and medical examination was conducted.
9. P.W.-5 Dr.Banita Bhagat stated before the trial court that on 20.02.2014, she was posted as Medical officer in Sadar Hospital, Purnea and she examined Annu Kumari (victim) and submitted medical report and according to P.W.-5, age of victim was assessed between 15 to 16 years.
10. P.W.-6 Yogendra Prasad Singh (I.O.) stated before the trial court that he recorded the statement of witnesses and thereafter, submitted charge-sheet, marked as Exhibit 4.
11. The victim Annu Kumari (C.W.1), in her deposition, stated that on 16.02.2014 at about 10 P.M. Soni Kumari called her to her house on the pretext of giving Prasad and after consuming said Prasad and water, she became unconscious. Thereafter she was taken near a road where a Bolero vehicle was standing and the appellant Bhupendra Kumar along with co-accused persons forced her into the vehicle and took her away to Supaul. She further deposed that she was taken to the Supaul Court where her signature was forcibly taken on a paper. Thereafter, police along with her parents came and recovered her and also arrested accused persons including this appellant. Thereafter, the victim was brought to Purnea and was examined by the Doctor at Sadar Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026 5/8 Hospital, Purnea Police and her statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C. was recorded on 21-02-2014.She identified the appellant in the dock and claimed to identify other accused persons. From perusal of the aforesaid evidence of C.W.1 Annu Kumari (Victim) during examination-in-chief, it appears that she has fully supported the case and corroborated the evidence of P.W.-4 (informant).
12. On the other hand, 3 defence witnesses have been examined on behalf of appellant, who are D.W.-1 Hirday Rishidev, D.W.-2 Jagdeshwar Sada, and D.W.-3 Jagdish Yadav and all the three have stated that appellant is their neighbour and is innocent.
13. Thereafter, the learned Trial Court, after hearing the parties and perusing the materials available on record, convicted appellant and sentenced him, as indicated in the opening paragraph of this judgment.
14. Learned counsel for the appellant assails the impugned judgment of conviction & order of sentence on several grounds. He submits that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the case against this appellant. As a matter of fact, there was love-affairs between the appellant and the victim and no one had kidnapped her and she went with appellant out of her volition, but due to interference of parents of victim and the fact that appellant belongs to Scheduled Caste, she (victim) changed her statement Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026 6/8 before the Court. There are material contradictions in the deposition of witnesses. The Trial Court has wrongly convicted the appellant. On aforesaid grounds, the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence are fit to be set aside.
15. On the other hand, learned A.P.P. for the State submits that there is no need of any interference in this appeal since the prosecution witnesses have corroborated the prosecution story and there is no reason to differ with the findings of the learned Trial Court and the judgment of conviction and order of sentence are justified and legal.
16. On going through the evidence of all the prosecution witnesses including the evidence of victim herself, this Court finds that prosecution has rightfully brought home the guilt of this appellant and proved the case beyond all reasonable doubts. In this case, victim has consistently stated that she was taken away in a Bolero vehicle by the accused persons after being administered Prasad and was later taken to Supaul where her signature was forcibly obtained on certain papers. The testimony of victim is duly corroborated by evidence of P.W.-1, P.W.-2 and P.W.-4 as well as medical report, which shows that victim was below 18 years. The defence plea that the victim voluntarily accompanied the appellant does not inspire confidence, particularly when the victim Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026 7/8 herself denied having voluntarily married the appellant and has stated that her signature was obtained forcibly. In case of minor, consent is immaterial in law. The medical evidence and testimony of witness corroborate the prosecution case and there is no reason to disbelieve their evidence. Thus, this Court does not find any illegality or perversity in the impugned judgment of conviction and sentence, passed by the learned Trial Court.
17. Keeping in view the fact that the incident is of the year 2014 i.e. more than a decade has passed and there is no complaint against this appellant after institution of the present F.I.R., I feel that end of justice would be met if the sentence is reduced to the period already undergone. In this case, the appellant has already remained in custody for about three years and maximum period of sentence is five years.
18. Accordingly, the impugned judgment of conviction is upheld and the order of sentence dated 30.09.2015 passed by the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge - 1st Purnea in connection with Sessions Trial No. 107 of 2015 / Trial No. 38 of 2015 (CIS No. 73 of 2015), arising out of Barhara (Raghubans Nagar) P.S. Case No. 24 of 2014, corresponding to G.R. Case No. 729 of 2014, is reduced to the period, already undergone by this appellant.
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.6 of 2016 dt.27-04-2026 8/8
19. In that view of the matter, appellant is discharged from the liability of his bail bond in connection with aforesaid case.
20. Accordingly, the appeal stands disposed of.
(Prabhat Kumar Singh, J)
Anay
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE N/A
Uploading Date 30.04.2026
Transmission Date 30.04.2026