Kerala court sentences man who raped and killed while on bail to death

A court in Kerala on Tuesday sentenced to death a 29-year-old man for the brutal rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Aluva, bringing the curtain down on a grisly murder that shook the southern state and sparked sweeping outrage. Asafaq Alam, a migrant worker from Bihar who was out on bail in connection with a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act for molesting a minor girl in Delhi when he committed the crime in Aluva, was convicted by the court on November 4. He was found guilty on all 16 counts against him, including rape, carnal intercourse against the order of nature, murder, abduction, indignity to human corpse, destruction of evidence and sections 5(m), 5(i), 5(l) of Pocso and section 77 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. Special public prosecutor G Mohanraj said the death sentence will be carried out after a confirmation from the high court.