KOCHI: The Ernakulam Pocso Court will sentence Bihar native Asfaq Alam today, in the case of abusing and killing a five-year-old girl in Aluva. The court will consider the case in the morning. The court upheld 13 charges including murder, kidnapping, abuse, disrespecting the dead body and destruction of evidence against the accused. Court had heard the argument about what punishment should be given to the accused last week.

Special Prosecutor Adv G Mohanraj, who appeared for the prosecution, argued that this is a crime that is rarest of the rare and the accused should be given the death penalty. It was also pointed out that the accused's young age is not a reason to avoid the death penalty. The defendant argued that the accused should be given a chance to repent. The court adjourned the case for sentencing after the arguments of both sides were completed. The court had earlier sought a report on the accused's state of mind and behaviour in jail. Judgment will be given today considering this as well.

On July 28, the daughter of a non-state labourer was found dead in a garbage heap behind Aluva market. After the incident, the police team conducted an investigation and arrested Asfaq Alam. The case is that Asfaq took the child saying that he would buy her a cold drink and gave the child an alcoholic drink following which he abused and murdered the child. The court found the accused guilty on the 100th day after the incident.

The jail's probation officer and jailer reported to the court that the accused misled the court by saying that he did not know Malayalam when he actually knew it. Police interrogated him with the help of an interpreter as he said he did not know Malayalam. The entire testimony in the case was translated into Hindi by a court lawyer on behalf of Asfaq Alam.