Death penalty for rape and murder of five-year-old a reminder of the debate on capital punishment

A special judge in Ernakulam has termed the rape and murder of a five-year-old child a"rarest of the rare" cases and awarded death penalty to the convict.

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ON November 14, a special court in Ernakulam, Kerala, awarded death penalty to the accused Asafak Alam for the rape and murder of a five-year-old child.

Brief facts of the case

On July 28, the child victim was found missing. The next day, her body was found covered with plastic bags containing garbage at an abandoned spot in Aluva Market. Her body bore numerous grievous injuries.

After an investigation, the Aluva East police arrested Alam. Alam is a 28-year-old migrant worker from Bihar and was found in a highly intoxicated state when he was arrested. The family of the victim child are also migrant workers from Bihar.

During the investigation, it was found that Alam already had a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 registered against him.

He was charged with 16 offences, including under Sections 366A (procuration of minor girl), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc.), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with the intent to commit an offence), 377 (unnatural offences), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 297 (trespassing on burial places) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 5 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act and Section 77 (penalty for giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance to the child) of the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.