Per Justice Rajiv Sharma, Judge (oral).

This appeal is instituted against the judgment dated 29.9.2011 rendered by the Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi in Sessions Trial No. 20 of 2010, whereby the appellant-accused (hereinafter referred to as the “accused” for convenience sake), who was charged with and tried for offences punishable under section 376 and 452 of the Indian Penal Code, has been convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for ten years and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- and in default of payment of fine, he was further directed to undergo simple imprisonment for six months for the commission of offence punishable under section 376 (2) (f) of the Indian Penal Code. He was further sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- and in default of payment of fine to further undergo simple imprisonment for three months for the commission of offence punishable under section 451 of the Indian Penal Code. Both the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

2. Case of the prosecution, in a nutshell, is that the grand father of the prosecutrix filed an application before the police on 5.4.2010 stating there