Kerala court sentences lone accused to death in Aluva minor girl rape case

Asafaq Alam was given the death penalty by the Ernakulam POCSO Court in Kerala on Tuesday for the rape and killing of a five-year-old child in Aluva, over four months after the shocking crime that rocked the State. Alam was also given five life sentences for the rest of his natural life in accordance with five provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

He was given life in prison for raping the minor, five years for destroying evidence, three years for drugging the kid, and the death penalty for both the minor’s murder and rape.
“These five life sentences will run concurrently,” read the court judgment.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 7,20,000 on Alam, a migrant labourer hailing from Bihar.

In accordance with the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO Act, and IPC, the offender was sentenced by the court. Judge K Soman of the Additional District and Sessions Court delivered the ruling while the accused, Asafaq Alam, who was taken into custody the same evening of the crime, was present in court.

Four months after the occurrence, the conviction and punishment were rendered.
The case was brought before the Ernakulam Court on September 7. On September 16, the accused was given the charges and their reading. On October 4, the trial started.

On November 4, Alam was found guilty of his crime, and today he was given his punishment..On July 28, a 5-year-old girl was kidnapped from her home at around 3 pm and raped in Aluva municipality, which comes under Ernakulam district in Kerala. Later, she was murdered and was dumped in a marshy area near Aluva market, police said. After a thorough investigation, the suspect in the crime was arrested.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala police, which probed the case had submitted an 800-page charge sheet against the accused in a POCSO court on September 2. The investigation and trial were completed over a period of three months. Kochi police said that CCTV footage from the day of the murder helped them arrest the accused and crack the case.

The child was found after a coordinated search conducted by police and locals the locals who also saw the accused kidnapping the child. The child’s family had been living in Edapparum and surviving on miscellaneous jobs for the last decade. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had termed the incident an “isolated one” and accused the Opposition in the state of only trying to ‘tarnish’ the image of the government.