JUDGMENT :

R.NARAYANA PISHARADI, J

1. Committing rape on his own daughter by a person is the most abominable and heinous crime which shall be condemned and dealt without any mercy. But, conviction of a person accused of such crime shall be recorded only on sufficient proof. However great the suspicion against the accused and however strong the moral belief of the Court, unless commission of the offence by the accused is established beyond reasonable doubt on the basis of legal evidence and material on the record, he shall not be convicted.

2. Very recently, in Raghavan v. State of Kerala (2021 SCC OnLine Kerala 4134), a Division Bench of this Court had occasion to observe that false allegation against an accused of committing rape on his daughter is lethal to his life even if he is eventually acquitted. The present case is another example.

3. The appellant is the sole accused in the case S.C.No.99/2013 on the file of the Additional Sessions Court-I, Kottayam.

4. The prosecution case is that, the accused, the father of the victim girl, repeatedly committed penetrative sexual assault and rape on her, on many days during the period from 29.08.2012 to 03.03.2013.

5. According to the prosecu