JUDGMENT

Lort-Williams, J. - The accused in this case was charged with rape upon a girl, nine years old. He himself is stated to be about fifteen though there is no definite evidence upon the point. He was tried by the Additional Sessions Judge, Hooghly, at Howrah and a jury who brought in an unanimous verdict of acquittal saying that they gave him the benefit of the doubt.

2. The prosecution case is that the girl Panchu Bala Dasi was the wife of Rajani Khanra, who was about eighteen years old and that she had been married to him four years before at the age of five. They had never lived together as man and wife. The girl lived with her father and mother and the husband and wife used to visit each other in their parent's houses from time to time. At the time when this crime was alleged to have been committed the husband was away from his home and the father and mother of the girl also were away temporarily leaving her alone in the house.

3. She says that the accused Bhondar came up and asked her for some water, then caught her by the hand, dragged her into the cowshed, laid her down on the mud floor, and ravished her after stripping her naked. She cried and the witness Benode Mandal c