ORDER

1. On special leave being granted, the State of Himachal Pradesh has preferred this appeal against the judgment and order dated 16.11.1983, acquitting the respondent of an offence under Section 376, IPC earlier recorded by the learned Sessions Judge.

2. Briefly stated the prosecution case is that on 2.8.1982, the prosecutrix, Raksha Devi PW4 alongwith her father Nikkoo Ram PW5 and an elder sister by name Samti were in their fields. It started to rain all of a sudden and the prosecutrix, her father and her sister, ran towards their house. The prosecutrix got separated from her father and elder sister and was following them when the respondent Raghubir Singh, then aged about 16 years, came to her and caught hold of her hand and took her under a mango tree. The prosecutrix, who was 7/8 years old at that time was wearing a frock and having a shawl with her. The respondent spread the shawl on the ground and making the prosecutrix lie on that shawl committed rape on her. Since, the prosecutrix had not reached her home, Nikkoo Ram her father after waiting for about half an hour returned towards the field and saw the respondent lying on top of the prosecutrix, Raksha Devi, under the