Court finds Ashfaq Alam guilty in Aluva rape and murder case; all 16 offences proven, prosecution demands maximum sentence

KOCHI: The Ernakulam POCSO court has found Bihar native Ashfaq Alam guilty in the Aluva rape and murder case. All 16 offences against the accused were proven. The prosecution, which said that Ashfaq committed unparalleled cruelty, demanded that the accused must be awarded a maximum sentence.

All 16 charges against the accused, including murder, rape and POCSO charges, were proven. The court will announce the sentence on Thursday. Ashfaq Alam was found guilty on the basis of statements of witnesses and CCTV footage. The accused has also been charged with three offences punishable by death.

The incident that shocked Kerala took place on July 28. A special team was formed to investigate the brutal rape and murder of the five-year-old girl, the daughter of migrant workers in Aluva. The charge sheet was submitted within 30 days. The trial started on October 4. Ashfaq Alam is the only accused in the case.

Ashfaq had been living near the house where the child lived. The girl was playing in front of her house when the accused lured her by buying her juice and took her to the garbage dump behind the Aluva market. He then sexually assaulted her after forcefully making her drink liquor. To destroy the evidence, he used the cloth worn by the girl to strangle her to death. He disfigured the girl's face by hitting her with a stone. He then put the body in a sack and covered it with dry leaves. The accused was arrested that day itself. The police conducted the investigation by collecting nearly 50 CCTV footage and scientific evidence. The accused had been arrested in another rape case before. Ernakulam POCSO court announced the verdict after examining all this.