JUDGMENT

MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, J.

1. This appeal arises out of the judgment and order dated 17.07.2015 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in CRA-S-1648-SB of 2011, whereby the High Court dismissed the appeal filed by the convicted accused, namely Jai Singh and Sham Singh.

Since the first accused – Jai Singh has undergone the sentence imposed upon him by the Courts below, he is stated to have been released. However, the accusedSham Singh, appellant herein, is serving the remainder of his sentence.

2. The case of the prosecution in brief is that on the night of 22.08.2001, the minor victim girl (PW7), who was staying in the house of her paternal uncle Om Prakash and Aunt Laxmi (PW10), stepped out of the house to urinate, then she was approached by the two accused, namely Jai Singh and Sham Singh. Both of the accused are brothers inter se. The accused and the victim are cousins. The accused forcibly took the victim into their house and tied her hands on a cot with rope and committed rape on her. The mother of the accused, having learnt about the incident, told the victim to forget about the incident and threatened to wipe out her family in case she disclos