A man from Bihar has been sentenced to death by a special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Kerala’s Ernakulam district in July.

The Additional District and Sessions Judge K Soman, responsible for POCSO Act cases, pronounced the death sentence today after convicting Alam on November 4. The swift verdict and subsequent sentencing occurred within four months of the horrific incident.

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The court’s decree stated, “For the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, the accused is sentenced to death and I direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead… This proceeding shall be submitted to the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala for confirmation of the death sentence,” reported Bar and Bench.

The sentencing comes 110 days after the incident that took place on July 28, which left the state in shock. The perpetrator, Asafaq Alam, 28, a migrant worker from Bihar, was found guilty by the POCSO court in Kochi last week.

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Alam allegedly abducted, raped, and murdered the five-year-old victim, who resided in the same building as he did. The child’s body was later discovered in a sack in a swampy area behind a local market in Aluva.

The sentence encompassed thirteen legal provisions from the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the POCSO Act. These included sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 328 (hurt by use of poison), 364 (kidnapping for murder), 366(a) (procuration of a minor girl), 367 (kidnapping for causing grievous hurt), 297 (indignity to human corpus), and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the IPC. Additionally, he faced penalties under three sub-sections of Section 5 (penetrative sexual assault) and Section 6 (sexual assault) of the POCSO Act and Section 77 (giving intoxicating liquor) of the Juvenile Justice Act.

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Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the verdict that came on Children’s Day (November 14) would be a warning to all those who commit atrocities against children.

He stated, “That child was subjected to extremely heinous cruelty. Immediately after they got a complaint, police acted promptly leading to the arrest of the accused. The government has ensured all protection and aid for the family of the girl…Atrocities of this nature cannot be tolerated by civilised society. Society should be ready to isolate those who commit crimes of this nature,” as Indian Express reported.

Alam received the death sentence for murder and life imprisonment for rape and POCSO Act violations, which, as per the judge, meant incarceration for the remainder of his life. The sentence imposed on Alam was for the offence of murder, whereas he was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and the offences under the POCSO Act. The judge added that life imprisonment, in this case, “shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.”

He was further sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment for offences under Sections 364, 366A, 367, and 328 of the IPC. Five years of rigorous imprisonment were given for tampering with evidence and three years for the JJ Act violation. One year of rigorous imprisonment was imposed for demeaning the human body.

All sentences were to be served concurrently, along with fines ranging between ₹10,000 to ₹1 lakh for each offence. Notably, a ₹1 lakh fine was imposed for rape, murder, and POCSO Act violations.