Aluva rape, murder case: Kerala court sentences convict to death
Kochi (PTI): A court in Kerala on Tuesday sentenced to death the man convicted in the horrific Aluva child rape and murder case.
Special POCSO (Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences) court judge K Soman gave the highest punishment of the land to Ashwaq Alam, a migrant labourer, for raping and killing a 5-year-old girl from Bihar.
The sentence was pronounced on a date celebrated as Children's Day across the country.
The date also marks the 11th anniversary of the POCSO Act, which came into effect on November 14, 2012.
The victim's parents were present in court when the punishment was given to Alam, who was convicted on November 4.
The prosecution had argued that the case falls under the rarest-of-rare category and therefore, the death penalty should be given to the convict.
During arguments on sentence, Alam had claimed in court that the other accused were let go and only he was caught in the case and, beyond that, he did not make any other submission, the prosecution had said.
The court had found Alam guilty of all 16 offences in the charge sheet.
Of the 16, five offences are punishable by death, the prosecution had said earlier.
The minor girl was brutally raped and strangulated to death on July 28 after she was abducted from her rented house here.
The body of the girl was found dumped in a stack in a marshy area behind a local market in nearby Aluva and the accused was arrested based on CCTV visuals.
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Horror at Mysuru Dasara: 10-year-old balloon seller found dead; rape, murder suspected
Mysuru: A horrifying incident has shaken Mysuru during the ongoing Dasara festivities, after the body of a minor girl who sold balloons at the Dasara Exhibition was found on the exhibition grounds on Thursday morning. Police and locals suspect the child may have been raped and murdered.
The victim, believed to be around nine to ten years old, was a native of Kalaburagi. She had been living with her parents in a temporary tent at Doddakere Maidan and earned her livelihood by selling balloons to visitors at the fair.
According to police sources, the girl had accompanied her parents to the ‘Theppotsava’ at the Sri Chamundeshwari Temple on Chamundi Hills on Wednesday night. After returning, she reportedly slept beside her mother in the tent. The next morning, she was found missing.
A brief search by her family ended in tragedy when her body was discovered near a mound of mud, about 50 metres away from the tent. Police officers at the scene said the circumstances indicate the possibility of sexual assault followed by murder.
A police team, along with a dog squad and forensic experts, visited the spot and began collecting evidence.
