Pak serial killer gets death for raping, murdering 7-yr-old
Imran Ali was arrested in January, two weeks after he raped and killed the 7-year-old girl and threw her body into a garbage dump in Kasur city, some 50 kilometres from Lahor
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday sentenced to death a serial killer for the brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl that sparked national outrage, the first ever trial in the country’s history that concluded in shortest period of four days.
Announcing the verdict at the Kot Lakhpat Jail here at in-camera trial amid high security, ATC judge Sajjad Hussain handed down the death sentence to 23-year-old Imran Ali on four grounds “murdering a child, kidnapping a child, rape of a minor, and committing an unnatural act with a minor.
Imran has also been sentenced to seven years in jail with a fine of Rs 1 million for desecrating the body of a minor, reports PTI.
He was arrested in January, two weeks after he raped and killed the 7-year-old girl and threw her body into a garbage dump in Kasur city, some 50 kilometres from Lahore.
Zainab’s case had sparked outrage and protests across the country after the minor, who went missing on January 4, was found dead in Kasur city on January 9. The brutal rape and murder sparked outrage and protests across the country. Her case was the twelfth such incident to occur within a 10 kilometre radius in Kasur city over a 12-month period.
The arrest brought to light eight more such killings and many Pakistanis have demanded he be publicly executed.
Prosecutor General Ehtesham Qadir, who spoke to media after the sentencing, said the accused had been given ample chance to defend himself, but he chose to confess his crimes.
“The suspect had also confessed to the killing of eight other girls. He will be tried in these cases separately?” he said, adding this was the first-ever trial in the history of Pakistan that concluded in four days.
The girl’s father Muhammad Amin expressed satisfaction over the verdict, saying: “We are satisfied on the verdict but we wanted him to be hanged publicly.” The girl’s mother said, “We want that the suspect should be stoned to death for his crime as hanging in jail is a punishment which is given to other criminals but this beast deserves either public hanging or stoned to death.”