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The State has filed this appeal under Section 378(1) & (3) of Cr.P.C. challenging the judgment of acquittal dated 03.02.2017 passed by the III Additional District and Sessions Judge & Special Judge (POCSO Act), Belagavi in S.C.No.199/2015.

2. For the sake of convenience, parties shall be referred with the original ranks occupied by them before the trial court.

3. The brief factual matrix leading to the case are as under:

Accused is the father of the victim/complainant and they are residing in Laxmi Nagar bearing House No.1286/A, Belagavi. That the accused being the father of the victim girl aged about 14 years and knowing fully well that she is minor had committed forcible sexual assault on her since about 9 months and also on 19.05.2015 by wrongfully confining her in the house had forcible sexual act against the victim girl. When the victim girl had been to the house of her maternal grandmother, the accused went there to secure her and at that time, the victim girl refused to go with the accused and disclosed the fact of sexual assault by the accused. It is further case of the prosecution that mother of the victim girl i.e., wife of the accused is deaf and dumb and when the sexual act of the accused was brought to the notice of P.W.6 i.e., maternal grandmother, she took the victim girl to the police station and a complaint came to be lodged. On the basis of the complaint, investigating officer has registered the crime and the victim was subjected to medical examination. Further, her statement under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. before the learned Magistrate was also recorded and the accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. The investigating officer has also recorded the statement of the witnesses and collected medical evidence as well as age proof certificate of the victim and found that there is sufficient evidence as against the accused and as such, he submitted the charge sheet against the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 376(1), 342 and 506 of IPC and Sections 4, 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as 'POCSO Act' for short).

i) Whether the prosecution proves the guilt of the accused for the offence punishable under Sections 376(1), 342 and 506 of IPC and Sections 4, 8 and 12 of POCSO Act as alleged beyond all reasonable doubt?

     ii)        Whether     the       judgment     and     order   of

                acquittal   passed      by   the   trial   court   is

                perverse, erroneous and arbitrary?

11. It is to be noted here that victim girl is none other than daughter of the accused. The victim is examined as P.W.1. It is also an admitted fact that the mother of the victim and wife of the accused is deaf and dumb. Further, there is no serious dispute of the fact that victim is aged about 14 years as on the date of lodging of the complaint. This aspect is again confirmed from Ex.P8 which is a birth certificate issued by the school, which discloses that her date of birth is 20.02.2001. Apart from that, the accused who got himself examined as D.W.1 in his cross-examination has admitted that date of birth of the victim is 20.02.2001.

18. P.W.5-Dr.Anita Dalal deposed regarding examining the victim girl on 25.05.2015 and her evidence discloses that, hymen was not intact and the victim has undergone sexual assault. In her cross- examination, it is elicited that there was no recent sexual assault on the victim, but the fact that the victim was undergone sexual assault is not at all denied or disputed.

19. P.W.6-Sahajadabi Kazi, is a maternal grandmother of the victim. She has also deposed in terms of the statement given by the victim girl and she deposed that victim girl has disclosed regarding sexual assault committed by the accused on her. Hence, she took her to the police station and got lodged the complaint. She has also specifically deposed that her daughter i.e., mother of the victim girl is deaf and dumb. During the cross-examination, it is elicited that there was a promise to the accused that she will be giving property in case he marries the mother of the victim, as she was deaf and dumb. It is elicited that there was quarrel in recent days and the accused is not leaving the victim girl in her house. She has denied the suggestion that she insisted the victim girl to lodge the complaint and due to personal grudge, she got lodged a false complaint. Interestingly, during the cross-examination of P.W.1, a suggestion was made that P.W.6 was initially insisted to accused to transfer a house property in the name of the mother of the victim, which she denied. But on the contrary, during cross-examination of P.W.6, a suggestion was made that during the marriage, there was a promise to give property, as the accused is marrying deaf and dumb daughter of P.W.6. But very interestingly, the accused who got examined himself as D.W.1 in his cross-examination admitted that he had the knowledge at the time of marriage that his wife is deaf and dumb and without any enticement, he voluntarily married the daughter of P.W.6. Hence, it is evident that accused has taken inconsistent stands.

30. On perusal of the judgment of the trial court, it is evident that the trial court did not consider the position of the child and the trauma undergone by the child while facing sexual assault. Further, the trial being conducted by the trial court in such a casual manner that all the witnesses were recalled after 7 months and such attitude is deprecated by the Hon'ble Apex Court. The reasoning of the trial court does not inspire the consciousness of the court and the trial court on surmises and assumptions presumed certain things and acquitted the accused. The trial court has failed to consider the fact that there was no reason for the victim to give false evidence against her own father and non-denial of sexual assault during cross-examination of the victim. The trial court on its own presumed certain aspects without considering the inhuman nature of the offence regarding father committing sexual assault/rape on his own minor daughter that too when the mother is deaf and dumb. There is no reason for victim girl to give false evidence against her own father. She ought to have undergone lot of mental agony and shock by this act of accused as she was not able to share the same with her mother who is deaf and dumb. It is hard to accept the contention of accused that at the instance of her maternal grandmother a false complaint is filed and she is giving false evidence. Court cannot ignore trauma undergone by tender aged child by such inhuman act. The courts should be very sensitive in such cases, when evidence of victim is consistent and reliable. Under such circumstances, the entire approach of the trial court is erroneous, perverse, capricious and from the initial stage itself, the trial court has proceeded with biased mind against the victim girl, which cannot be accepted.