( 1 ) THIS appeal is directed against the Judgment of the Special Judge for trial of cases under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Mahaboobnagar rendered in S. C. No. 1/1991 under which the appellant-accused has been convicted for the offence under Section 376, IPC and sentenced to undergo R. I. for three years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500. 00 in default of payment of fine to suffer R. I. for three months. The appellant has been acquitted of the charge under Section 3 (1) (xii) of S. C. and S. T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

( 2 ) THE facts relating to this appeal may be stated briefly as follows :-THE victim Chunarker Radha is the daughter of one Mangaiah resident of Chandravalli and she belongs to Scheduled Caste. The accused is a resident of Dhanoor and was a Supervisor-cum-Contractor in M/s. B. G. Shirke and Company Limited, C. C. C. Naspoor. The victim was said to be a minor girl of 14 years. Due to financial problems of the family after the death of her father, she went to C. C. C. Naspoor and worked on daily wages as a cooli under the control of the accused. She stayed with her elder sister at Naspoor during May, 198