JUDGMENT

This Criminal Appeal has been filed by the accused, challenging the Judgment dated 31.01.2023 passed in Spl.C.C.No.5 of 2021 by the learned Sessions Judge, Principal Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases under POCSO Act, Coimbatore, convicting the accused for the offence under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sentencing him to undergo one year of rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default to suffer one month of simple imprisonment.

2(a). The case of the prosecution is that the appellant/accused is the father of the victim girl; that he had committed aggravated sexual assault on the victim girl on several occasions by inappropriately touching the private part of the victim girl and also exposing his private part to the victim girl; that the appellant had committed the offence of criminal intimidation by threatening the victim of dire consequences if she discloses the occurrences to anybody else; that the appel