J. K. MOHANTY, C. J. ( 1 ) THIS appeal is directed against the judgment of Additional District and Sessions Judge convicting the appellant under section 376 read with section 511 I. P. C. and sentencing him to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for five years. ( 2 ) THE charge against the appellant is that on 3. 12. 1983 he committed rape on Naina Kumari Biswakarma, a girl aged about 7 to 8 years. According to the prosecution the accused- Appellant was working as a labourer for carrying manure being engaged by the father of the victim-girl P. W. 15. At about 2. 30 P. M. P. W. 15 found the accused- Appellant resting in the field and he noticed that something was amiss with the accused. On enquiry the appellant told him that he has sustained some injuries. P. W. 15 then proceeded to the field and found that his daughter Naina Kumari P. W. 14 was crying in the field. He noticed profuse bleeding from her lower part of the body. On enquiry P. W. 14 did not tell anything to him. One Tika Ram P. W. 3 was working in a nearby field. P. W. 15 asked him as to what had happened to his daughter. P. W. 3 replied that she has been raped by the accused- Appellant. P. W. 3 Tika Ram was sent by P. W. 15 to report the matter at the nearby police outpost. Some police officials thereafter came to the spot and the victim along with the accused were taken to Sadar Police Station where the written complaint Extp. 36 was lodged by the father. Both the appellant and the victim-girl were sent to the hospital for medical examination. The Investigating Officer P. W. 17 after completion of investigation submitted charge sheet against the accused under section 376, I. P. C. ( 3 ) IN order to prove the case the prosecution examined 17 witnesses. Out of these witnesses P. W. 14 is the victim-girl, P. W. 4 is the mother before whom the P. W. 14 narrated the incident immediately after the occurrence. P. W. 3 is an after-occurrence witness who noticed blood oozing out of the lower part and testified that P. W. 14 told him that she has been raped by the accused. P. W. 15 is the father of the victim-girl. P. W. 3 is an after-occurrence witness who noticed blood oozing out of the lower part and testified that P. W. 14 told him that she has been raped by the accused. P. W. 15 is the father of the victim-girl. Four doctors have been examined in this case. P. W. to is the Medical Officer who examined the accused, P. W. 11 is the radiologist who performed ossification test of the victim and has opined that she was 7 to 8 years of age (on 7. 12. 1983 ). P. W. 12 is a Medical Officer who examined the victim-girl and P. W. 13 a gynecologist who examined the victim girl on 3. 12. 1983 at about 630 P. M. and submitted his report Ext-P. 12. The other witnesses are witnesses to the seizure and police officers. The plea of the accused appellant is complete denial of the occurrence. ( 4 ) THE learned Additional Sessions Judge considering the evidence on record specifically that of P. Ws. 3,4, 14, and 15 coupled with the circumstantial evidence of the case found that the appellant is Dot guilty of offence under Section 376 of the I. P. C. but thought it proper to convict the accused appellant under Section 376 read with 511 of the I. P. C. ( 5 ) IN this Court, Mr. T. B. Thapa, the learned counsel appearing for the accused appellant (counsel appointed by the Legal Aid Committee) submitted that there is absolutely no reliable evidence on record to prove that there was any attempt by the accused- Appellant to commit rape as has been found by the learned Judge. According to him P. W. 14 the victim-girl is the only witness but her evidence cannot be relied upon as she has admitted in her cross-examination that she was tutored by the police. The evidence of P. W. 14 has been completely belied by the medical evidence specially that of P. W. 13 who bas stated categorically, in the instant case, in my view, there was no penetration because had there been any penetration then there would have been tears in the vagina canal of the patient extensively. He further submitted that there is no evidence that the accused- Appellant had any intention to commit any crime or that he had made the preparation for the commission of the crime. He further submitted that there is no evidence that the accused- Appellant had any intention to commit any crime or that he had made the preparation for the commission of the crime. He further argued that even assuming for the sake of argument that immediately after the occurrence, P. Ws. 3, 4 and 5 saw that the blood was oozing out from the lower part of the body of the victim-girl and some stains of semen were found in the garments of the accused, from this it cannot be established that the accused bad any sexual intercourse with the victim-girl or attempted to do so. The learned advocate-general appearing for the State submitted that the evidence of the victim-girl corroborated by the evidence of her mother P. Ws 4,3 and 15 supported by the medical evidence on record established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused- Appellant has committed the offence of rape and in any event there cannot be any doubt that the accused has attempted to commit rape on the victim-girl which attracts the provision of Section 511, I. P. C. He further argued that medical evidence fully establishes the case of the prosecution. ( 6 ) THAT the girl was about 7 or 8 years of age on the date of the occurrence is not disputed by the counsel appearing for the appellant. This also is amply proved by the P. W. 11 who is a radiologist and had conducted the ossification test of the victim. He categorically opined that she was 7 or 8 years of age on the date of the examination. The learned Additional Sessions Judge has found that the evidence to constitute the offence of rape has not been established in this case but considering the evidence on record be came to hold that the accused- Appellant cannot escape the punishment under section 511 of the I. P. C. for attempting to commit rape. ( 7 ) P. W. 14 is the victim-girl, she was slightly dumb, as has been observed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge. However, she was capable of giving rational answers. According to her when she was grazing her goat the accused came to her and lifted her and took her to the near-by jungle and removed her clothes and committed sexual intercourse on her. As a result of which she profusely bled and suffered great pain. However, she was capable of giving rational answers. According to her when she was grazing her goat the accused came to her and lifted her and took her to the near-by jungle and removed her clothes and committed sexual intercourse on her. As a result of which she profusely bled and suffered great pain. She thereafter went to her mother and narrated the incident. She was medically examined and hospitalised. In cross-examination, however, she states whatever I have stated is correct and also I was tutored by the police. The learned counsel, therefore, argued that her evidence is of no value to the prosecution in view of the fact that she has been tutored. However, on a closer scrutiny of her evidence along with the evidence of P. Ws. 3, 4 and 15 it appears that this statement was made more out of confusion as she was of very tender age. P. W. 4 the mother has stated that immediately after the occurrence P. W. 14 came to her and told her about the incident. This also was corroborated by the evidence of P. W. 3 and to some extent by P. W. 15. ( 8 ) ACCORDING to P. W. 10, a Medical Officer, there was no blood stain or seminal stain in and around the private part. There was blood stain near the angle of the right leg. On retracting the prepuse, there was no thin coating of smegma. Instead, smegma was seen smeared all over the glands penis. A small lacerated wound is seen near the right side of the frenulum. Frenulum is intact. Evidence shows that he has committed the act of coitus recently. P. W. 12 examined P. W. 14 and on examination he found dried blood stains inside her both thighs in the medial side and blood stain on her left leg. He scrapped the blood clots from her person and handed over the same to the police for examination by serologist who had opined that it contains human blood. P. W. 13 is a Gynecologist. She has found blood stain around perineum and both thighs and detected blood stains around perineum and both thighs. He also found a small laceration about 1/2 to 1 cm in the posterior angle of vagina and slight bleeding, multiple small laceration in the right libia posterior end, and she found hymen congested but intact. She has found blood stain around perineum and both thighs and detected blood stains around perineum and both thighs. He also found a small laceration about 1/2 to 1 cm in the posterior angle of vagina and slight bleeding, multiple small laceration in the right libia posterior end, and she found hymen congested but intact. He categorically opined that victim was subject to sexual intercourse but there was no penetration as there was no tears in the vaginal canal. It is also in the evidence that immediately after the occurrence the police seized blood stained stones and small sticks from the spot. No doubt the medical evidence in this case is not consistent, rather I would say it is contradictory. So the learned Additional Sessions Judie expressed doubts about the actual commission of rape on the victim-girl by the accused appellant and in my opinion rightly so. Question now is for consideration whether the accused attempted to commit rape on the victim- girl. ( 9 ) THE commission of an offence comprise of four stages (i) forming an intention to commit the crime, (ii) making preparation for the commission, and (iii) attempting to commit (iv) the actual commission of the crime. Distinction between the preparation and attempt is that there is a thin line between the preparation for and an attempt to commit, an offence. The attempt to commit an offence, therefore, can be said to begin when the preparations are complete and the culprit commences to do something with the intention of committing the offence and which is a step towards the commission of offence. The moment he commences to do the act with the necessary intention, he commences his attempt to commit the offence. Commission of offence in this case is not established beyond reasonable doubt. However, from the evidence of the victim-girl and P. Ws. 3, 4 and 15 and the surrounding circumstances as discussed above it can be reasonably held that the accused is guilty of attempting to commit the offence of rape. The learned counsel for the appellant vehemently argued that the evidence of the prosecution its highly unreliable, discrepant and should not be relied upon. No doubt there are some discrepancies in the evidence of the witnesses but these are not very material and for this the entire prosecution case cannot be thrown out. The learned counsel for the appellant vehemently argued that the evidence of the prosecution its highly unreliable, discrepant and should not be relied upon. No doubt there are some discrepancies in the evidence of the witnesses but these are not very material and for this the entire prosecution case cannot be thrown out. ( 10 ) IN the result, therefore, appeal fails and is dismissed. However, I find that the accused was very young and about 18 years of age on the date of the commission of the offence. He might have under sudden impulse tried to do something for which he must be repenting. He also belongs to scheduled tribe. In view of the above circumstances, ends of justice will be met if the appellant is sentenced to undergo R. I. for two years in stead of 5 years as imposed by the Additional Sessions Judge. Subject to the modifications of the sentence as aforesaid the appeal is dismissed. Before parting with this case I must record my appreciation for the able-assistance rendered by the learned counsel for the appellant, Mr. T. B. Thapa. Appeal dismissed. --- *** --- .