Judgment :

(Chandra Prakash Shrimali, J.)

1. The present appeal has been preferred by the accused/appellant viz. Saheb Ram @ Rajjo being aggrieved by the impugned judgment dated 04.07.1994 passed by the learned Special Judge Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Cases), Sri Ganganagar (hereinafter to be referred as the 'trial court') in Case No.4/94 (State of Rajasthan Vs. Saheb Ram @ Rajjo), whereby he was convicted for the offences under Section 376 of IPC read with Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter to be referred as the ‘SC/ST Act’) and was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment with the fine of Rs.100/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo one month’s additional simple imprisonment.

2. Before addressing the main issue, it is necessary to clarify that as per the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Nipun Saxena Vs. Union of India (Writ Petition No.565/2012) : 2019 (2) SCC 703, the identity of minor as well as of an adult victim of rape/sexual abuse must be protected. Therefore, in the present case, the adult female victim of rape will be referred as t