Metropolitan Magistrate Kiran Gupta sentenced Central Delhi resident Jaipal on the basis of deposition by his wife and eight-year-old daughter.
"The convict is the father of the victim who is aged around eight years. The custodian of the child is the father on whom not only rests the responsibility of building character / career and upbringing of the child but he is also a vital part of her life.
"If the father himself is found guilty of such a heinous offence, no mitigating circumstances can be found to reduce the sentence," the court said, dismissing convict's plea for leniency.
The prosecution case dated back to May 18, 2011 night when the child's mother had gone to the bathroom, Jaipal had attempted to sexually molest his sleeping daughter, the prosecution had told the court.
The mother had rushed back to the room on hearing her daughter's scream and saw her husband attempting to sexually molest the minor, it had added.
When the woman asked her husband what he was doing, he had beaten her and the victim mercilessly and threatened to kill them if they disclosed the incident to anyone.
Jaipal, however, claimed in the court that his wife had implicated him in case as she wanted some property in her name, but the court dismissed his contentions.