It is forbidden to believe rechilus even if the speaker is someone very close to the listener and would not want to draw him into a feud unnecessarily. Even though it is clear that the speaker has only the good of the listener in mind, his account of the story may not be accepted as fact.
If one finds it difficult to convince himself that the report is totally false, he must, at the very least, assume that the speaker’s interpretation of the incident is mistaken and that no ill will was intended by the subject. (As stated above, if the report was intended to save him from harm, he must, of course, protect himself on the possibility that it may be true.)
