Man who raped and killed 6-year-old Zainab Ansari is hanged to death in front of victims father

Man who raped and killed 6-year-old Zainab Ansari is hanged to death in front of victims father

The man who raped and murdered eight children including 6-year-old Zainab Ansari has been hanged to death at a Pakistani prison in front of his victims family.

Mohammad Imran was hanged earlier today in the presence of both Magistrate Adil Sarwar and the deceased’s father, Muhammad Amin, both of whom arrived early morning at the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.

The killer was given 45 minutes to spend with his family before being led away to be executed at around 5:30 am (01:30 am UK time).

He was given the death sentence after being convicted on 21 counts of rape and murder of at least eight young girls including 6-year-old Zainab.

Zainab disappeared on 4 January and her body was found five days later in a rubbish dump in the city of Kasur near her home which caused wide spread anger, outrage and protests in the country.

Police said there had been several similar child murders in the past two years in Kasur but her killing proved to be a tipping point.

CCTV footage which was circulated widely on social media showed Zainab being led away by a man. The hashtag #JusticeForZainab later went viral, with many Pakistanis calling for action.

On 23 January after a widespread manhunt, 24-year-old Imran was arrested and confessed to the police that he had raped and killed Zainab and a further 7 girls.

Zainab’s father, who was present during the execution, said: “Zainab would have been seven years, two months old today,” adding “Her mother is devastated from grief.”

He also went on to say he regretted that the authorities did not allow the live telecast of the hanging but thanked the chief justice of Pakistan and said that the “murderer had met his fate today”.

Imran had filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court challenging the death sentence handed to him in the Zainab case in February, claiming that his trial was not fair.

The LHC rejected his appeal and upheld the trial court’s conviction. He then appealed to the Supreme Court against the conviction.

On June 12, the SC rejected Ali’s appeal against the death sentence handed to him for the rape and murder of Zainab, noting that the petitioner had admitted committing similar offences with eight other minor victims and “in that backdrop, he did not deserve any sympathy in the matter of his sentences”.

As a last resort, he sought clemency from President Arif Alvi, but his plea was rejected on Oct 10 and his death warrants were issued by an Anti-Terrorism Court two days later.