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21. The case of the prosecution is mainly dependent on the testimony
of Chandni, the child witness, who was examined as PW-8. Section
118 of the Evidence Act governs competence of the persons to testify
which also includes a child witness. Evidence of the child witness and
its credibility could depend upon the facts and circumstances of each
case.
There is no rule of practice that in every case the evidence of a
child witness has to be corroborated by other evidence before a
conviction can be allowed to stand but as a prudence, the court
always finds it desirable to seek corroboration to such evidence from
other reliable evidence placed on record. Only precaution which the
court has to bear in mind while assessing the evidence of a child
witness is that witness must be a reliable one.
22. This Court has consistently held that evidence of a child witness
must be evaluated carefully as the child may be swayed by what
others tell him and he is an easy prey to tutoring.
Therefore, the
evidence of a child witness must find adequate corroboration before it
can be relied upon. It is more a rule of practical wisdom than law. [See
Panchhi and others v. State of U.P, (1998) 7 SCC 177, State of U.P.
v. Ashok Dixit and another, (2000) 3 SCC 70, and State of
Rajasthan v. Om Prakash, (2002) 5 SCC 745].
23. In Alagupandi alias Alagupandian v. State of Tamil Nadu,
(2012) 10 SCC 451, this Court has emphasized the need to accept the
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