ORDER

The appellant, convicted for the offence under Sections 376 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short ‘the IPC’) by the Trial Court in Sessions Trial No. 79/2011 and confirmed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Bench at Gwalior in Criminal Reference No. 2 of 2011 and Criminal Appeal No. 851 of 2011, has approached this Court questioning the judgment and order of conviction and sentence of death imposed on him by the impugned judgments.

2. The brief facts giving rise to these appeals are that on 06.02.2011, Smt. Maya (mother of the prosecutrix), PW-4, was fetching water from the village well at about 10.30 am; she allowed the accused to take her daughter (the victim) with him for eating plumfruits from the tree situated on the outskirts of the agricultural fields of the village; the accused thereafter took the victim towards the outskirts of the village, but neither of them returned; consequently, PW-4 went to search for her daughter but could not find her; she returned back to her house and informed about the aforementioned incident to her motherinlaw; PW-4 and her motherinlaw started searching for the victim again; on the way, they met one Manoj (PW-9) of their village w