For the offence of rape as defined in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, the sexual intercourse should have been against the will of the woman or without her consent. Consent is immaterial in certain circumstances covered by clauses thirdly to sixthly, the last one being when the woman is under 16 years of age. Based on these provisions, an argument is usually advanced on behalf of the accused charged with rape that absence of proof of want of consent where the prosecutrix is not under 16 years of age takes the assault out of the purview of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. Certainly consent is no defence if the victim has been proved to be under 16 years of age. If she be of 16 years of age or above, her consent cannot be presumed; an inference as to consent can be drawn if only based on evidence or probabilities of the case. The victim of rape stating on oath that she was forcibly subjected to sexual intercourse or that the act was done without her consent, has to be believed and accepted like any other testimony unless there is material available to draw an inference as to her consent or else the testimony of prosecutrix is such as would be inherently improbable. The prosecutrix before us had just crossed the age of 16 years. She has clearly stated that she was subjected to sexual intercourse forcibly by the accused. She was not a consenting party. She offered resistance to the best of her ability but she succumbed and fell victim to the force employed by the accused. She has narrated how she was approached by the accused while she was busy washing clothes near her hut. The accused initially asked for water in a lota. Then the accused asked for a knife on the pretext that it was needed for peeling cucumber. The accused was gaining time to ascertain if the prosecutrix was alone. No sooner the prosecutrix turned her back unmindful of what laid ahead, her hand was caught hold of by the accused and twisted on her back. The accused pushed her to bhitian, a secluded place. She was thrown on the ground. The accused put his knee on her chest so as to over power her. Her shouting was throttled by the accused who placed his palm on her mouth and later covered her mouth by a towel pressed against her lips.