In State v. Vance, 146 W. Va. 925, 124 S.E.2d 252 (1962), the defendant's conviction of statutory rape and his sentence of life in the penitentiary was reversed where the defendant was voluntarily absent for four or five minutes during discussion of jury instructions. The Court's reasoning was that W.Va. Code 62-3-2 was mandatory notwithstanding that the defendant's absence did not prejudice him.