This Criminal Appeal has been preferred by the appellant/State through Public Prosecutor against the judgment made in S.C.No.90 of 1997 dated 30.04.1998, on the file of the learned Principal Assistant Sessions Judge, Pondicherry wherein, the trial Court after analysing the evidence acquitted the respondents/accused herein of all the charges as against them for the offence under Sections 450 r/w 34 , 376 (2) (g) r/w 34 and 506 (ii) r/w 34 IPC against which the state has come forward with this present appeal.

2. The case of the prosecution in brief is as follows:-

P.W.4, P.W.2 and P.W.3 is the husband, mother and brother of P.W.1 respectively. P.W.1s husband was working in the canteen in Raman Cinema Theatre. He use to go to work at 10 A.M. and return home at 2.00 A.M. On 03.08.1997 at about 10.30 P.M., when P.W.1 was lying in her bed along with her children, she heard knocking of the door and she switched on the light and asked as to who was knocking at the door. As no reply was forthcoming, she peeped through kitchen window and found A1/the first appellant, resident of that locality who was known to her earlier. He was standing with a tiffen box and unwashed hand and on seeing P.W.1, asked for water for drinking and P.W.1 also gave him a plastic bottle containing water. At that time, she found A2/the second appellant sitting in a drunken mood on the pial of her house. On seeing his condition, P.W.1 partly closed the door and asked A1 to return the bottle quickly. But the first appellant/A1 pushed open the door of the house with a knife in his hand and bottle in the other hand came inside the house and threatened P.W.1 to obey his order or else he would stab her. Following him, the second appellant/A2 entered P.W.1s house and caught hold of P.W.1s hip and breast. They dragged her to the door step stating that they were longing to have sexual intercourse with her and they will not go without satisfying their lust.

3. P.W.1 struggled to escape from the clutches of A1 & A2, found A3 & A4/third and fourth appellants who were also the residents of her locality standing in the lane running by the side of her house and called them for help but all the four appellants joined together and dragged her to the backyard of her house and laid her on the cement floor used for washing vessels and to prevent her from escaping, A4 sat on her two legs while A3 caught hold of her hands and A1 with knife in one hand, closed the mouth of P.W.1 with the other hand. The second appellant lifted her saree and petticoat and had sexual intercourse with her. Following him, the other appellants one by one had sexual intercourse with her. Thereafter, the first appellant brought P.W.1 to the front side of her

house and again compelled her to have sexual intercourse with him for the second time.

P.W.1 pleaded and refused to have intercourse with him for the second time. A1/first appellant tied her legs and pushed her down on to the floor and had intercourse forcibly with her and threatened her that if she divulged the incident to anyone, he would kill her husband and children. P.W.1 fearing threat at the hands of A1 did not reveal the incident to anyone.

4. On return from his work, P.W.4 asked her as to why she had injuries on her face and she replied that as she fainted and fell down, sustained injuries. The next day after her husband left for work she went to her mothers house and narrated the incident to her mother/P.W.2. Her mother adviced her to give complaint to the police and P.W.1 left her mothers house and returned home. But she did not give complaint to the police and thereafter, she did not go to her mothers house for two days. On 06.08.1997, her brother/P.W.3 came to the house of P.W.2 who asked him to go to his sisters house and find out whether she was not well. Hence, P.W.3 went to the house of P.W.1 and on seeing the bruises on her face question her as to what happened, even then she did not revealed the incident took place to her but