C. Nagappan, J.

1. The appellant-Balaraman is the sole accused in Special Sessions Case No.1 of 2004 on the file of Principal Sessions Judge, Vellore and he has preferred this appeal challenging the conviction and sentence imposed on him by judgment dated 11. 2004 in the case. For the sake of convenience, in this Judgment, the appellant will be referred to as accused.

2. Charges under Sections 376 IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 were framed against the accused. The learned Principal Sessions Judge found the accused guilty under Section 376 IPC read with Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and convicted and sentenced him to undergo Life Imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/-, in default, to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for six months.

3. To prove the charges, the prosecution examined P.Ws.1 to 16 and marked Exs.P1 to P19 and M.Os.1 to 7.

4. The case of the prosecution, as could be discerned from oral and documentary evidence, can be briefly summarised as follows.

P.W.1-Chinnakulandai and P.W.3-Sagunthala are the parents of P.W.2, minor victim. P.W.4-Balasubramaniam is the sisters son of P.W.1-Chinnakulandai. P.W.2, the victim, studied upto first standard and was grazing the sheeps. On the date of occurrence viz., on 9. 2003, P.W.2, the victim, was grazing the sheeps along with P.W.5-Ananthi, Lavanya, Jayalalitha and in the afternoon at about 2 pm, P.W.6-Venkatesan asked the accused Balaraman, who was a pump operator, to set-right the channel course of the canal. The accused Balaraman directed P.W.5-Ananthi, Lavanya and Jayalalitha to go and bring spade and they refused. The accused directed P.W.2, the victim, to go and get the spade. P.W.2, the victim went through the sugarcane field and the accused followed her and inside the sugarcane field, the accused Balaraman caught hold of P.W.2, the victim, laid her in the channel, closed her mouth with cloth and raped her in violent manner.

Since P.W.2, the victim, did not return, P.W.5-Ananthi along with others went in search of her inside the sugarcane field and she saw the accused Balaraman running away from the scene of occurrence and noticed the clothes of P.W.2, the victim, stained with blood. P.W.2, the victim, returned home. P.W.1-Chinnakulandai and P.W.3-Sagunthala found her looking tired and the victim went to sleep without taking food. The next day viz., on 9. 2003, P.W.3-Sagunthala found blood in the clothes worn by P.W.2, the victim and the victim complained of stomach pain and did not go for grazing the sheeps. In the evening at 6 pm, P.W.7-Rajamani came to the house of P.W.1-Chinnakulandai and informed him that he came to know through Lavanya that the accused Balaraman had raped P.W.2, the victim, in the sugarcane field on 9. 2003. P.W.1-Chinnakulandai and P.W.3-Sagunthala enquired P.W.2, the victim, regarding the same and P.W.2 narrated the rape committed by the accused Balaraman on her in the sugarcane field and she also identified the accused Balaraman who was going through the street.

P.W.4-Balasubramaniam prepared the complaint and obtained the left thumb impression of P.W.1-Chinnakulandai in it and attested the same and they went to Kurisilapattu Police Station. P.W.15-Sub Inspector Sampath received Ex.P1-complaint from P.W.1-Chinnakulandai and registered a case in Crime No.235/2003 under Section 376 IPC read with Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and prepared Ex.P18-First Information Report and despatched the same to the Court and higher officers. He sent P.W.2, the victim, for medical examination.

P.W.9-Dr.Lakshmipathy saw P.W.2, the victim on 9. 2003 in Government Hospital, Tirupattur and referred her for examination to a lady doctor. Ex.P7 is the Accident Register issued by him. P.W.10-Dr.Parimala examined P.W.2, the victim and found th