JUDGMENT : Dipak Misra, J. - Shastras may proclaim God manifests in the innocent smile of a child, a Philosopher may gaze at the sparkling eyes of a growing child to feel the quintessence of the universe and a poet laureate like Wordsworth may announce with divine solemnity 'Child is the father of man' and yet someone else in nostalgia may remember the house he was born, but here is a sad and unfortunate incident where the appellant succumbing to the most inferior bestial propensities of lowly human nature and exposing his perverse impulse shattered the serene innocence of a eight year girl depriving her of the life-time privilege of cherishment of the childhood memory in posied tranquillity and compelling her to remain in constant despair bearing the burnt of an incurable stigma. 2. The appellant faced trial for commission of an offence u/s 376, Indian Penal Code, for having committed rape on an Adivasi girl aged eight and has been convicted by the learned trial judge. The legality of the said judgment of conviction and order sentencing the appellant to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of eight years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of one month, is called in question by the appellant. 3. Stated briefly, the prosecution version is that the victim girl while grazing bullocks in an open field along with other girls had gone to bring the bullocks which had moved to a distant place and her friends had gone. to river Budhabalanga to bring water. The accused-appellant finding her alone forcibly lifted her, committed rape on her causing bleeding, swelling and bruises on her private part. She had worn a koapin and had put on a country towel (Gamchha) to cover upper part of her body, and the said dress was not worn in austerity but because of unavoidable poverty. With blood-stained koapin, bleeding profusely from her private part, tears in her eyes without understanding what had happened to her in complete public gaze of the villagers she carne running and narrated the nightmarish experience to her parents. Her father Jhanka Murmu reported the matter at Kuliana Police Station. The victim girl was sent to Kuliana Health Centre for medical examination. Her father Jhanka Murmu reported the matter at Kuliana Police Station. The victim girl was sent to Kuliana Health Centre for medical examination. The investigating Officer took up investigation and on completion of the same submitted the charge sheet which ultimately lei to the trial and conviction of the appellant as indicated hereinbefore. 4. The plea of the accused Is one of denial simpliciter. 5. To bring home the charges the prosecution examined 9 witnesses. PW 1 is the Doctor who had collected sample blood from the victim girl and handed over the same to the investigating Officer and had also submitted the blood group report; PW 2 is the Doctor who had examined the victim girl; PW 3 is the victim girl herself; PWs 4 and 5 are the parents of PW 3; PW 6 is another young girl who had accompanied PW 3 to the gracing field; PW 7 Is the paternal aunt; PW 8 is a relation of the victim girl and PW 9 is the Investigating Officer. Apart from the aforesaid witnesses the prosecution brought number of documents on record. On behalf of the defence no evidence was adduced. 6. On consideration of the materials on record, the learned trial Judge found the appellant guilty of the offence and sentenced him as indicated hereinbefore. 7. Mr. P. K. Mishra, learned counsel for the appellant, assailing the judgment has contended that the evidence of the prosecutrix is neither reliable nor trustworthy as the same is replete with contradictions and discrepancies. It is his submission that the Court below has been swayed by the injuries on the victim girl though the said injuries could have been possible for some other reasons. He has also highlighted that the whole occurrence is totally improbable, and tested by the touchstone of probabilities the prosecution case cannot stand close scrutiny. His last submission is that the appellant is a young man and the only earning member of his family and, therefore, he should be leniently dealt with. 8. Mr. Sangram Das, learned Standing Counsel, supporting the judgment has submitted that the evidence of PW3 is unimpeachable and inspires enormous confidence and there is no reason to view it with suspicion. It has been further submitted by Mr. Das that there is no reason for an innocent girl to falsely implicate the appellant. 8. Mr. Sangram Das, learned Standing Counsel, supporting the judgment has submitted that the evidence of PW3 is unimpeachable and inspires enormous confidence and there is no reason to view it with suspicion. It has been further submitted by Mr. Das that there is no reason for an innocent girl to falsely implicate the appellant. He has also canvassed that her version has received corroboration from the medical evidence and there is no earthly reason to discard her testimony. The learned counsel for the State has seriously criticised the submission made in regard to lenient dealing in the matter of sentence. 9. To appreciate the rival contentions raised at the Bar, I have closely scrutinised the evidence of PW 3, She has vividly narrated about every action of the appellant. She has deposed clearly that the appellant raped her and she sustained great pain and there was profuse bleeding from her private part. She has stated that she was shouting at the time of commission of rape, but the accused had gagged her mouth by putting his hands. She has graphically described about her wearing apparels getting stained with blood and her loss of consciousness. In her cross-examination, she has stated that she had gone to fetch the bullocks to a distant place where the accused committed rape on her. Nothing substantial has been elicited from her in the cross-examination. In spite of her tender age, she has stood firm. PW 5, the mother of the girl, and PW 7, her aunt, have categorically stated that they had found the wearing apparels of the girl stained with blood. It is apparent from their evidence that they had found blood coming out of her private part. PW 8, a relation of the girl, has also exactly deposed to the same effect. PW 2, the doctor, who had examined the victim girl, has certified that the victim girl was aged about 8 years at the time of occurrence. True it is. no proper test has been conducted to find her age, but PW 2 has opined that there was no public hair as she had not attained monarche. He has found blood-stains were present on her left thigh and both legs. . He had found her wearing apparels were bloodstained. He has also noticed blood clots around the external genitalia. no proper test has been conducted to find her age, but PW 2 has opined that there was no public hair as she had not attained monarche. He has found blood-stains were present on her left thigh and both legs. . He had found her wearing apparels were bloodstained. He has also noticed blood clots around the external genitalia. He has also found there was fresh and profuse bleeding from the vagina of the victim girl at the time of examination. On cross-examination, he has clearly stated that both the sides of labia majors were swollen having redness, inflammation and contusion and hymen was torn and there was bleeding on touch of hymen. He has also recorded in his report that forechette and posterior commisure were torn and blood was oozing. He has also opined that the' injuries which were found on the victim girl were possible by penetration and not by mechanical means. The medical evidence has not been shaken and PW 2 has given a clear picture in regard to his examination. Reading the evidence of PWs 3, 5 and 6 juxtaposed with the evidence of PW 2, there is no reason to disbelieve the version of PW 2, the doctor who examined the victim girl (PW 3). The attack on the evidence of PW 3 is with regard to the place of occurrence, the manner of her moving, the time of her becoming unconscious and such other factors which are really trivial and insignificant and do not in any way affect the prosecution case. I have also perused Ext. 15, the report of the Chemical Examiner and Ext. 16, the serological report. I find the napkin, the clothes contained human blood and the quantity was extensive. I also notice that blood which was found from the napkin is of 'B' group and the blood group of the victim girl is also of group 'B', as has been found from the blood, group report, Ext. 1. The leaves which were found from the spot also contained blood-stains and the earth which was collected also contained blood of 'B' group. The serological examination report (Ext. 16) confirms the test as per Ext. 15. Absence of semen stain cannot be a factor to be considered against the prosecution. The wearing apparels of the accused were seized much after the occurrence. The serological examination report (Ext. 16) confirms the test as per Ext. 15. Absence of semen stain cannot be a factor to be considered against the prosecution. The wearing apparels of the accused were seized much after the occurrence. In any case, that alone would not be the determining factor to arrive at the conclusion that PW 3 was not the victim of carnal desire of the accused appellant. From the preceding analysis, I am of the considered opinion that the prosecution has proved its case to the hilt and there is no infirmity in the judgment of the learned trial Judge and the same does not call for interference. 10. Now coming to the question of sentence : the learned counsel for the appellant has highlighted with regard to the age of the appellant. I find, the age of the appellant was 25 years at the time of occurrence. It is not that he was that young to be unable to know the effect or the consequence of his act. While dealing with a case of rape and after being convinced about commission of the crime, the Court has to be stern in imposing the sentence. Recently, this Court in the case of Lankeswar alias Pramod Digal v. State :(Jail Criminal Appeal No. 332 of 1994, disposed of on 26 th of November, 1996) .has observed as follows: " While considering the question of sentence the Court has to keep in view that the accused has offended the dignity of human existence. A woman cannot be treated as an object of pleasure. No man should entertain the idea that a woman has to depend on man at every stage of life for protection of her dignity and self-respect Every man conceiving the notion of sexual assault must remember that in the bodily frame of a woman remains the soul of a mother, the essence of purity. No one has right to indignity a woman. The commission of a heinous crime like rape not only offends the individual but shatters the social fabric, destroys poise of the milieu and ruins the harmony of the atmosphere." In view of the aforesaid, i am not inclined to modify the sentence. 11. Resultantly, the appeal fails and the same is accordingly dismissed. Final Result : Dismissed