ISLAMABAD: Pedophile serial killer Imran Ali was sentenced to death on Saturday for kidnapping, raping and murdering a six-year-old girl, Zainab Ansari, last month.
Her death ignited nationwide protests demanding swift justice and a public execution of the perpetrator. An anti-terrorism court, amid tight security gave Ali the death sentence on four counts.
Ali was given the death penalty for kidnapping, rape, murder, and terrorism. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the disposal and concealment of the girl’s body and sodomy, along with a hefty fine and a term of seven years in jail.
Zainab’s father, Mohammed Amin Ansari, while lauding efforts of the Punjab chief minister and the chief justice of Pakistan, called for a harsher punishment.
“I am content with the judgment but I want him publicly hanged,” Ansari told Arab News. He will not rest until he sees Ali executed. He explained his and his wife’s pain and anguish when the news of his daughter’s murder surfaced while they were in Saudi Arabia performing Umrah.
“The judgment is satisfactory,” said Zainab’s mother, who also demanded a public execution. She said he must pay for his crimes against other children and should be made an example of. “I want him punished at the same location he (abducted) Zainab.”
The trial ended on Thursday in Lahore’s central prison in Kot Lakhpat but the verdict was reserved by presiding Judge Sajjad Ahmad. At least 56 witnesses were cross-examined by the prosecution and the newly appointed defense counsel.
During the trial, Advocate Mehar Shakeel Multani, after examining 22 witnesses, withdrew representation as defense after Ali confessed to his crimes shortly after his indictment. The Punjab government, bearing all costs, assigned a state counsel to defend the suspect.
Zainab Ansari was abducted from the street while commuting to a Qur’an recital near her aunt’s house in Kasur on Jan. 4. Her body was discovered in a garbage dump five days later. An autopsy report revealed she was sexually assaulted and then murdered. Imran Ali, apprehended on Jan. 23, confessed to her murder.
Ali has confessed to crimes against nine more children, two of whom survived, and a separate trial is expected soon, said Prosecutor General Syed Ihtesham Qadir.
The killer has a right to appeal within 15 days against the judgment in the High Court. Furthermore, he can appeal to the apex court and later file a mercy plea to the president.
“The death sentence cannot be carried out with the approval of two high court judges,” legal expert Feisal Naqvi told Arab News. The process can take up to two years but he thinks the process will be expedited and any appeals will be rejected.
He said the Council of Islamic Ideology has stated that public hanging is “un-Islamic” and public executions are not permitted by law.
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Child killer, rapist sentenced to death in Pakistan
Child killer, rapist sentenced to death in Pakistan
Missiles pound Ukraine capital ahead of Russian invasion anniversary
- Kyiv has faced waves of overnight strikes in recent weeks as Moscow has intensified its winter assaults
- The strikes also prompted heightened vigilance across Ukraine’s western border
KYIV: Explosions rocked Kyiv before dawn on Sunday after officials warned of a ballistic missile attack, just two days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
AFP journalists in the capital heard a series of loud blasts beginning around 4:00 a.m. (0200 GMT), shortly after an air raid alert was issued.
“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic weapons,” the head of Kyiv’s military administration Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram, urging people to remain in shelters.
The air force later extended the alert nationwide, warning of a broader missile threat.
Kyiv, regularly targeted by Russian missile and drone attacks since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, has faced waves of overnight strikes in recent weeks as Moscow has intensified its winter assaults on energy and military infrastructure.
Temperatures had plunged to nearly minus 10C when the capital was struck again, with emergency services deployed across the city.
Tkachenko later said the attacks had caused a fire on the roof of a residential building.
The strikes also prompted heightened vigilance across Ukraine’s western border.
Poland’s Operational Command said early Sunday it was scrambling jets after detecting “long-range aviation of the Russian federation conducting strikes on the territory of Ukraine.”
It also came hours after blasts in Lviv, a western city near the Polish border that rarely sees deadly attacks.
Explosions ripped through a central shopping street around 12:30 am (2230 GMT Saturday), killing a policewoman and injuring 15 people after officers responded to a reported break-in.
“This is clearly an act of terrorism,” mayor Andriy Sadovyi said, offering no details on perpetrators.
Such attacks far from the front line have become more frequent over the past two years.
Four years of war
Ukraine will mark four years since Russia’s assault on Feb. 24, 2022, a withering war that has shattered towns, uprooted millions and killed large numbers on both sides.
Moscow occupies close to a fifth of Ukrainian territory and continues to grind forward in places, especially in the eastern Donbas region, despite heavy losses and repeated Ukrainian strikes on logistics.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine “is definitely not losing” the war and that victory remains the goal.
He said Ukrainian forces had clawed back about 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) of territory in recent counterattacks, gains AFP could not immediately verify.
If confirmed, they would be Kyiv’s most significant advances since 2023.
Sweeping outages of Starlink Internet terminals across the Ukraine front, shut down by owner Elon Musk following a plea from Kyiv, have enabled the push, according to Zelensky.
The bombardment also came amid a diplomatic push by Washington to end the four-year war.
Ukrainian, Russian and US envoys have met several times since January, but without a breakthrough.
Zelensky, under mounting pressure from Washington to consider concessions, plans consultations with European leaders in the coming days and wants deeper involvement from Middle Eastern states and Turkiye.
AFP journalists in the capital heard a series of loud blasts beginning around 4:00 a.m. (0200 GMT), shortly after an air raid alert was issued.
“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic weapons,” the head of Kyiv’s military administration Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram, urging people to remain in shelters.
The air force later extended the alert nationwide, warning of a broader missile threat.
Kyiv, regularly targeted by Russian missile and drone attacks since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, has faced waves of overnight strikes in recent weeks as Moscow has intensified its winter assaults on energy and military infrastructure.
Temperatures had plunged to nearly minus 10C when the capital was struck again, with emergency services deployed across the city.
Tkachenko later said the attacks had caused a fire on the roof of a residential building.
The strikes also prompted heightened vigilance across Ukraine’s western border.
Poland’s Operational Command said early Sunday it was scrambling jets after detecting “long-range aviation of the Russian federation conducting strikes on the territory of Ukraine.”
It also came hours after blasts in Lviv, a western city near the Polish border that rarely sees deadly attacks.
Explosions ripped through a central shopping street around 12:30 am (2230 GMT Saturday), killing a policewoman and injuring 15 people after officers responded to a reported break-in.
“This is clearly an act of terrorism,” mayor Andriy Sadovyi said, offering no details on perpetrators.
Such attacks far from the front line have become more frequent over the past two years.
Four years of war
Ukraine will mark four years since Russia’s assault on Feb. 24, 2022, a withering war that has shattered towns, uprooted millions and killed large numbers on both sides.
Moscow occupies close to a fifth of Ukrainian territory and continues to grind forward in places, especially in the eastern Donbas region, despite heavy losses and repeated Ukrainian strikes on logistics.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine “is definitely not losing” the war and that victory remains the goal.
He said Ukrainian forces had clawed back about 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) of territory in recent counterattacks, gains AFP could not immediately verify.
If confirmed, they would be Kyiv’s most significant advances since 2023.
Sweeping outages of Starlink Internet terminals across the Ukraine front, shut down by owner Elon Musk following a plea from Kyiv, have enabled the push, according to Zelensky.
The bombardment also came amid a diplomatic push by Washington to end the four-year war.
Ukrainian, Russian and US envoys have met several times since January, but without a breakthrough.
Zelensky, under mounting pressure from Washington to consider concessions, plans consultations with European leaders in the coming days and wants deeper involvement from Middle Eastern states and Turkiye.
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