KOCHI: Asafaq Alam, who had remained unemotional through the trial, broke down after the translator read out the death sentence to him.
Alam was presented before the court by around 11am and the case was called. Soon, the judge started reading out the sentence one by one. As he announced ‘death’ for brutally murdering the child, an audible gasp swept the courtroom.
Bini Elizebeth, who did Hindi translation, said Alam expressed relief each time she told him the imprisonment terms, but his expressions changed suddenly when he heard the death sentence.
“Every point of the sentence was given to me in writing. He (Alam) was visibly relieved when I read out karagrahavaas (imprisonment) or ajeevan karagrahvaas (life imprisonment). But when I told him about mrityudand (death penalty), his eyes turned red. He was taken to an adjacent room where he cried,” said Elizebeth.
She said she went to him after the court proceedings when he wiped his eyes with his dhoti. She told him he could file an appeal in the high court, and he gave a puzzled look in response, Elizebeth said.
It was Adeep M, the chief defence counsel of the legal aid defence counsel system, Ernakulam, and his team who appeared for the accused. Adeep said they had ensured the accused received a fair trial and an appeal would be filed before the high court and added the Kerala State Legal Services Authority would decide on his representation.
Elizebeth worked as Alam’s translator for 15 days. “I feel he (Alam) deserves this verdict. He exploited the child’s innocence. She considered him like her family member and went with him, still he did this to her,” said Elizebeth. Elizebeth said his responses in the court were limited and initially, when he was first presented before the court, he had sought forgiveness.
Alam was taken to the Viyyur Central Prison by noon. The court premises witnessed tense scenes as the police rushed him out of the building with the public yelling and shouting at him.