A 34-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker allegedly murdered his two-year-old daughter by slashing her throat, a German court heard today.

Sohail A. was described in Hamburg Court as a violent tyrant who terrorised his 32-year-old wife and their two children before allegedly murdering daughter Ayesha in October last year.

Sohail attacked his daughter in the family's flat in Hamburg after his wife Lubna had left to report a domestic violence attack to the police.

Killed: Sohail A. is accused of slitting his daughter Ayesha's throat so violently that she was ''practically beheaded', in an attempt to punish his wife for reporting him to police for domestic violence

She returned to the flat accompanied by several police officers to find her daughter murdered with a bloody knife beside her, and no sign of Sohail.

The court heard that the attack with a kitchen knife was so violent the toddler was 'practically beheaded.'

Today, the prosecutor alleged that he 'killed her in a rage to punish his wife.'

Sohail fled after the killing, and was caught by Spanish police in San Sebastian a week later and extradited back to Germany.

It was discovered that he had had his asylum application rejected six years prior to the killing, and had remained in Germany.

Shame: Sohail A. tries to hide his face in court as he hears charges against him

Taken in: Sohail A. is taken into custody by Spanish police after going on the run for a week following the killing of his young daughter

Despite being in the country illegally, and the family being on the authorities' radar due to his domestic abuse, he had not been deported.

A spokesman for the local youth authority said: 'The department had multiple contacts with the family. The security of the children was the main topic.'

The case reignited the debate about Germany's apparent lack of will to deport failed asylum seekers.

Thousands have been told they cannot stay but remain in the country using a variety of legal manouvres, including illness and false threats of violence awaiting them back in their homelands.

Sohail A. came from Pakistan into Germany on December 21, 2011 and applied for asylum.

But just a month later the application was rejected because the grounds for it were deemed 'not believable.'

On July 11, 2012 the judicial authorities deemed the decision legal in law, paving the way for deportation. It never happened.

'Just why he was allowed to remain in Germany is not clear,' said the daily newspaper Bild in a report about the murder and aftermath.

Investigation: Police officers are seen outside the couple's Hamburg flat after Ayesha's body was found in October last year

It was while awaiting deportation that he came to know Lubna, married her and fathered Ayesha with her and a son.

In April last year he launched an emergency action at Hamburg's Administrative Court to be allowed to stay on in the country.

According to media reports, the judge in the case was informed by police of violence against his wife, leading him to get youth authorities involved instead of ordering his expulsion.

Social workers reported back to the court that they did not foresee a 'worsening' of the family situation.

Through his lawyer the accused said: 'Everything was falling apart for me... I loved my daughter above everything.'

His wife, 32, cannot face him in court and will give evidence against him via a videolink on Friday. If convicted he faces life in jail.