The award of capital punishment to the convict in the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Aluva brought some relief to the child’s parents.
Just a couple of hours before the additional district sessions court for trying atrocities against women and children awarded capital punishment to the convict, Asafak Alam, the girl’s parents had reiterated their desire to see the same.
The victim’s father said he had full faith in the Kerala government. “He should be hanged. He has no right to live. If let outside, another child will have to face the same fate as my daughter. People like him will not change. He is a demon in the form of a human,” he said. He had demanded it on the very same day his daughter’s body was recovered from the Aluva market.
Expressing similar sentiments, the victim’s mother said the accused had no right to live after taking her daughter’s life.
It was on July 28 afternoon that the child went missing from her family’s rented apartment at Choornikkara near Aluva town. Asafak Alam, 29, of Bihar was nabbed by the police late in the evening.
A special investigation team (SIT) was formed by District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vivek Kumar to probe the case on a war footing. The team filed a 645-page chargesheet within 33 days of the incident. It banked on circumstantial evidence, cyber and forensic evidence, expert opinions of doctors, and medical reports for drawing up the chargesheet. The chargesheet had the statements of over 40 witnesses, 95 documents, and detailed references to material objects such as footwear and cloth.
The investigation took the SIT to Bihar, Delhi, and West Bengal for collecting critical information about the accused. It emerged that the accused had a case registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Delhi.
Efforts were made to ensure the maximum punishment for the accused. Witnesses who saw the accused taking the victim with him, CCTV footage, DNA of the accused collected from the body and the dress of the victim recovered from the crime scene also proved critical in the case.
