- (1.)THIS is an appeal by the accused who was charged with an offence punishable Under Section 376, IPC as well as for an offence punishable Under Section 457, IPC but who was acquitted Under Section 376: IPC and convicted Under Section 451, IPC by the ' Sessions Judge, Bhandara.
(2.)IT is alleged that in the night between 2nd and 3rd of December, 1967, at village Khod-Shivani. the accused committed rape on one Saraswati wife of Bhura Ukey of that village. It was further alleged that at the same time and place, he committed lurking house trespass by night by entering into the house belonging to the husband of Saraswatibai.
(3.)THE accused as well as Saraswati and her husband Bhura are residents of village Khod-Shivani in Sakoli tahsil of the district Bhandara. Saraswati was living with her husband Bhura in her house in the village. She is about twenty-two years of age. Her husband was an employee and had also his own paddy fields. On the night between 2nd and 3rd of December 1967, he had gone for the threshing operations in his fields after his meals. Saraswati thereafter was sleeping with her young son who was six years old on a country cot inside her house. Her room had a door, but, the chain of the door was outside. The door, however, was loose enough for the person inside the room to take the hand outside and close it by the chain outside. She had chained her door therefore in this way from outside and went to sleep. The case of the prosecution is that, in the absence of her husband, the accused came to the door and opened the chain from the outside at about 10 p. m. He then entered the room while Saraswati was sleeping on her cot. He pulled her down and had forcible sexual intercourse with her. When he had finished that sexual intercourse and had put on his clothes and was about to leave the room, Saraswati's husband Bhura appeared at the house. Her husband entered the house and caught hold of the accused. Saraswati was shouting for help. Her husband Bhura also had a fight with the accused, but the accused appeared to have overpowered Bhura and knocked him down and was sitting on his chest. By that time Bhura's brother Tulshiram and other persons came there. Bhura was rescued. The relatives of the accused also arrived there. The father of the accused and others took away the accused from Bhura and his brother, although Bhura and his brother wanted to take him to the Police Patil in the night at 10 p. m. The accused comes from the Patil class and Saraswati from the Gond caste.