JUDGMENT :

This appeal is directed against the conviction of the appellant and the sentence imposed on him in S.C.No.871 of 2016 on the files of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ernakulam. The appellant is the sole accused in the case.

2. The accusation in the case is that the accused who is a priest in the temple near the residence of the victim girl aged 16 years developed an intimacy with the victim girl and by giving her a false promise to marry, the accused took her on 11.07.2016 to various places and had committed penetrative sexual assault on her and thereby committed the offences punishable under Sections 366 and 376(2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code (the IPC) and Section 5(l) read with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (the POCSO Act).

3. On the accused pleading not guilty of the charges, the prosecution examined 22 witnesses as PW1 to PW22 and proved 25 documents as Exhibits P1 to P25. The prosecution has also caused one of its witnesses to identify the material object, MO1. The accused was, thereupon, questioned under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (the Code) as regards the incriminating evidence brought out by