Supreme Court rejects appeal of Zainab murder convict

LAHORE: A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa rejected the appeal of convict Imran Ali against the death sentence for the rape and murder of six-year-old Zainab in Kasur.

A three-judge bench at Lahore registry of the apex court, comprising Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Manzoor Ahmed Malik and Mansoor Ali Shah, turned down the convict’s appeal, upholding the death penalty awarded to him by an anti-terrorism court.

The ATC had handed Imran four counts of the death penalty, one life term, a 7-year jail term and Rs4.1 million in fines.

Zainab case convict Imran also faces charges in the cases of at least seven other children he attacked, five of whom were murdered in a spate of assaults.

Imran has confessed to all eight attacks, including the death of Zainab Amin, AFP reported earlier.

Imran had appealed to the Lahore High Court against the sentence but his appeal was dismissed.

Zainab’s rape and murder had sparked outrage and protests across the country after the six-year-old, who went missing on January 4, was found dead in a trash heap in Kasur on Jan 9.

The heinous crime had seen immediate riots break out in Kasur, in which two people were killed.

The government of Punjab on January 23 had announced the arrest of prime suspect Imran Ali.