Kochi | The Kerala High Court has upheld the conviction and life-term sentence given to a 55-year-old autorickshaw driver for sexually assaulting a minor girl whom he used to ferry to school back in 2012-13.

A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar continued with the proceedings in the appeal of the autorickshaw driver despite his death during the pendency of the case and dismissed his plea.

The bench upheld the conviction and sentence of the appellant, saying the testimony of the child, who was a student of class 4 at the time of the incident, was "coherent and consistent." "The alleged discrepancies do not, in our view, go to the root of the prosecution case or affect the core of her testimony.

The trial court had the advantage of observing her demeanour while she was examined and of assessing her testimony in the context of the other evidence available on record. On an independent appraisal of the entire evidence, we find no material inconsistency or contradiction of such nature as would justify discarding her testimony," the bench said.

It further said that upon an independent assessment of the evidence and the findings recorded by the trial court, it could find no grounds to interfere with the conclusions arrived at by the Sessions Judge.

"Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed, confirming the finding of guilt, conviction and sentence," the bench said.

The High Court had decided to proceed with the appeal as it was preferred against a composite sentence of imprisonment and fine.