JUDGMENT :

(Judgment of the Court was delivered by M.S.RAMESH, J.)

The appellant is the sole accused in the case before the Mahalir Neethimandram (Fast Track Mahila Court), Thanjavur in Spl. S.C.No. 48/2017, who has been found guilty for having committed the offences under Section 5(l), 5(n), 5(k) and 5(j)(ii) all read with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (in short 'POCSO Act') and Section 506(i) IPC and thereby convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life till his last breath without any concession or remission in his punishment through judgment dated 24.04.2018.

2. The case of the prosecution is that the appellant is the biological father of the victim girl and she was also mentally ill. When the victim girl was 17 years four months and ten days, the appellant had forcibly raped his daughter, owing to which, she became pregnant and gave birth to a child on 27.03.2017. The appellant had also been repeatedly having sexual intercourse with the victim girl thereafter, till two months before she delivered his child. The mother of the victim girl was unaware of the pregnancy of her daughter, untill she gave birth to the child. Since the a