Four death sentences for child murderer

A PAEDOPHILE who murdered at least eight children including a seven-year old girl whose rape and killing triggered violent protests has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani court.

Mohammad Imran, 24, received four death sentences for killing eight children following a five-day trial at a high-security prison in Lahore, public prosecutor Ehtesham Qadir told reporters on Saturday.

Imran was arrested in January, two weeks after authorities say he raped and killed seven-year-old Zainab Ansari and threw her body into a garbage dump in the city of Kasur.

Public anger over her murder saw local residents attack a police station, triggering clashes in which two people were killed.

Zainab disappeared in the first week of January while walking to a Quranic studies class. She was staying with relatives at the time because her parents had gone to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage.

Her parents quickly returned home, but by that time their daughter’s body had been found and preparations for her funeral and burial were under way amid tight security.

Zainab’s body was found on Jan 8. Imran was arrested after his DNA was found to match samples taken from her body.

He confessed to the crime under interrogation and told investigators that he lured the girl by telling her that her parents had come back and that she should go with him to meet them.

He pleaded guilty to the murder of Zainab and seven other children during his trial last week. Mr Qadir said Imran had the right to appeal, but may not challenge the verdict as he confessed to his crimes during the trial.

“Imran even today told the court that he killed the eight girls,” Mr Qadir told reporters in Lahore after the verdict was delivered.

He did not say how Imran’s execution would be carried out. There have been calls for him to be publicly hanged.

Zainab’s parents welcomed the sentence and called for a public execution to send a message to others.

“He should be stoned to death,” Nusrat Ansari, Zainab’s mother, said.

‘My daughter has gone, she will not come back, but I want to save daughters of other people’

Zainab’s father, Mohammed Amin Ansari, who was in court to hear the verdict, echoed his wife’s call for a public execution.

“My daughter has gone, she will not come back, but I want to save daughters of other people,” he said.