D. Murugesan, J.

The appellant (hereinafter referred to as "the accused") was tried in S.C.No.207 of 2005 on the file of the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Vellore for the offence under Section 302 IPC. By the judgment dated 11. 2006, he was found guilty of the offence under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. Challenging the above judgment of conviction and sentence, the present appeal has been filed.

2. The prosecution laid the charge sheet on the following facts:-

The deceased-Pramila @ Ramila is the daughter of P.Ws.1 & 3. She was studying X standard at the time of occurrence. On 210. 2004, the deceased returned to her house at about 2.00 p.m., after attending the school. At about 5.00 p.m., P.W.1 asked the deceased to cut the grass for the cattle. Hence the deceased went to the field belonging to P.W.6 to cut the grass. At about 6.00 p.m., P.Ws.1,2 & 3 heard the noise of the deceased from the field. P.W.2, the sister of the deceased, saw the accused holding the deceased and the deceased resisted the accused from molesting her. On seeing P.W.2, the accused ran away from the scene of occurrence with the sickle, marked as M.O.4. By that time