Image source- Times of India
Asafaq Alam who was accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a 5 year old child very brutally in Kerala state has been sentenced to death as the punishment for his crimes by the Kerala district court set up for POSCO cases.
Other than the death punishment, a total fine of around 7 lakhs has been imposed on the accused. Before the delivering of the judgement, Asafaq was presented before the court and he himself heard his sentencing to death and was explained his punishment by a translator.
The special prosecutor in the case was Advocate G Mohanraj.
Image source- theweek.in
Act of heinous crime by Asafaq Alam
This heinous crime unfolded in Aluva when Asafaq Alam kidnapped the 5 year old child on july 28 at 3 pm and brutally murdered her at 5:30 pm on the very same day.
After the court proceedings, the Judge K Soman in this case delivered the accused guilty on 4th November after hundred days of this heinous crime.
The lawyer of the accused asked to lower the seriousness of punishment given the young age of the accused that is 29 years.
Judgement made on Children’s Day
To mark the significance of Children Day, the court has further delivered capital punishment also to Asafaq Alam and set up an example that the end of such inhuman humans will not be good and eventually will lead them to a grave place.
This judgement was made by Ernakulam POCSO court which is set up to mitigate the atrocities against women and children by fastening up the process of delivering judgement in such cases.
In the court hearings, the public prosecutor managed to prove the 16 grave charges against Asafaq Alam and the capital punishment of around 7 lakhs will be made for 5 charges.
The Supreme court of India has asked the state government to submit in the mitigation report consisting of the mental health, age and the circumstances under which the person committed the crime should be made clear by the jail department as well.
The charges on the culprit included those of heinous crimes, including rape, murder, unnatural sex and even disrespect to a dead body. Owing to these, prosecutors termed this as the rare cases and demanded maximum punishment for the same. Parents of the child have welcomed the judgement of the court for the death penalty to the accused.
Police while giving information to the media informed that the accused was addicted to drugs himself and to abduct the minor girl, he fed her with a juice bottle spiked with drugs. He then abducted her, raped the minor and killed her on the very same day. There were around 41 witnesses who were questioned about the incident. Here, police tried their best to wrap up the investigation and issued a charge sheet against the accused in 30 days.
Image source- Bar and Bench.com
Court sets example for other cases
With issuing such a judgement against the accused, the POSCO Court has set an example in the whole nation that committing serious and brutal crimes like this, the court will show ‘no mercy’ for such inhuman persons and will for sure have to face grave punishments due to this. The court with the steadfastness in delivery judgement has marked a source of inspiration for other courts dealing with such cases.