Crown prosecutor Philip Hogan said that, in the week leading up to the girl's death, she was hit every day, became unconscious four times including when she died, and appeared to be "groggy" and "drowsy".

Mr Khazma is accused of knocking the girl unconscious by grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head into a wall, and of using the hot metal of a cigarette lighter to inflict multiple burns on her skin, some of which became infected.

The six-week trial is expected to hear from the girl's mother that Mr Khazma slapped and choked the girl, made her stand in a corner until her legs turned purple, whipped her with the cord from a phone charger, punched her and held her upside down over a bin.

Mr Khazma allegedly grabbed the girl by the shoulders and "aggressively" shook her on the afternoon of December 19, then stopped her mother from calling triple zero as the toddler gasped for air.

The girl's mother put her daughter in a car about 3pm and drove her to the home of Mr Khazma's relatives, who called emergency services. The girl died in hospital the next day.