A child rapist and serial killer was hanged behind closed doors last week, after the Pakistan’s apex court rejected intense public calls for a public execution.
The deceased, Mohammad Imran, earned the wrath of countless Pakistanis after it was revealed that he abducted, raped and murdered a seven-year-old girl, Zainab Ansari, while her parents were on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, this past January.
The police apprehended Imran after he dumped Zainab’s body at a garbage disposal site in Kasur, Punjab. The child rapist confessed to killing seven other children after his arrest and was convicted by the courts and sentenced to the death penalty thereafter.
Pakistan police official Mohammad Afzal said last Tuesday, “Imran was taken to the gallows just before dawn and he has been hanged with a rope in the presence of magistrate and a doctor.”
Zainab’s father, Mohammed Amin Ansari – who was one of the voices that called for a public execution as a deterrant to future offenders – was given special allowance to witness the execution.
After witnessing Imran’s death, Zainab’s father reportedly thanked the judiciary, government and investigators for giving the victims speedy justice and said, “My daughter will not come back, but I am satisfied that we got justice.”