JAMMU, Nov. 14 -- Holding that the credible and trustworthy testimony of a child victim can form the sole basis of conviction in a rape case, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has upheld the conviction and 14-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to a Udhampur man for raping an eight-year-old girl in 2017. A Division Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Dhar and Justice Shahzad Azeem dismissed the criminal appeal filed by Sanjay Kumar alias Sanju, a resident of Jib, Udhampur, challenging the judgment of the Additional Sessions Judge, Udhampur.
The trial court had convicted the accused under Sections 376 and 342 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), sentencing him to 14 years' rigorous imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh for rape, be...