ZULFIQAR AHMAD
ISLAMABAD: A pedophile and serial killer who murdered the seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur will be hanged at Lahore Central Jail on Wednesday (today) as Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed a petition seeking public hanging of the convicted murderer.
Imran Ali, 24, was convicted in January this year for rape and murder of Zainab Ansari of Kasur. Following the rejection of his clemency appeal by President Arif Alvi, an anti-terrorism court had issued his death warrants last week.
According to an order issued by ATC Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmed, Imran’s death sentence will be carried out on Wednesday (today) at Central Jail Lahore.
“The warrants [to hang Imran Ali] were issued after President Arif Alvi rejected Ali’s appeal for clemency in the Zainab case on October 10,” said Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Watoo.
On January 5, Zainab Ansari, went missing en route to a seminary near her house in Kasur city. Her parents were in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah and she was living with her maternal aunt.
After her abduction, CCTV footage showed her walking with a stranger near Peerowala Road. On January 9, her body was recovered from trash near the Shahbaz Khan Road. Autopsy report confirmed she had been molested.
Out of the seven rape and murder cases registered against Imran, the court has given its verdict in five.
On February 17, the court gave him four counts of death penalty, one life term, 7-year jail term and Rs 4.1 million in fine.
The four death penalties were for kidnap, molestation and murder and committing an act of terrorism punishable under Section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA).
In total, Imran Ali has been sentenced to 21 counts of death, three life sentences and a cumulative 23 years in jail.
Police carried out DNA test of more than 1,000 suspects.
In 2017, as many as 4,139 incidents of pedophilia took place in the province with 43 percent acquittals.
A two-judge bench of LHC on Tuesday rejected a petition filed by the father of the seven-year-old girl, seeking public hanging of the convict, saying only the government has authority to issue orders for a public execution by invoking Section 22 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
