Dropping off and picking up his little girl from the babysitter was always "normal", but nobody knows what happens when nobody is there, said the father of a one-year-old who was fatally injured in the care of her babysitter.

Shayal Upashna Sami, 21, is on trial in the High Court at Christchurch for the alleged murder of toddler Aaliyah Ashlyn Chand, who received fatal head injuries on January 6, 2015, while Sami was babysitting.

Aaliyah's father, Dev Chand, told the court on Tuesday, that he always asked Sami if she was OK to care for Aaliyah while he went to work.

Aaliyah's mother was still living in Wellington at the time, while Chand and Aaliyah moved to Christchurch in order for him to start work as a bus driver.

Sami's defence lawyer, Jonathan Eaton, QC, said it was a tragic accident, and Aaliyah had fallen from the couch.

Eaton questioned Chand over what he saw when he would drop and pick up his daughter, and that there was no indication Sami wasn't caring for her properly.

"It was good when I handed her over, but I'm not sure of what's happening inside," Chand said.

Opening the prosecution case on Monday, Crown lawyer Mark Zarifeh said Sami's explanation that Aaliyah was sleeping, then fell off the couch onto the carpeted floor, does not line up with the toddler's injuries.

Aaliyah suffered from two skull fractures and bruising to her face, she was unresponsive when Sami picked her up and took her to the hospital, with the help of a neighbour.

Aaliyah died in hospital the next day.

The trial is expected to last for two weeks.

- NZ Newswire