The sentencing of Zainab Ansari’s rapist and murderer was the most swift judgement in Pakistan’s history and we felt a strange sense of pride that it happened in our own neighbourhood.
Zainab’s mother, Nusrat Bibi, demanded that the police execute the convict in public. “I want him to be hanged publicly at the place where he took Zainab,” she said after the verdict was announced. If nothing else, maybe the public execution will set an example for the public, and every other accused who has managed to remain unscathed by their heinous crimes.
Imran Ali, 24, was found guilty of the rape and murder of five young girls, including six-year-old Zainab. He faced charges in the cases of seven other girls, five of whom he murdered. He confessed to all eight attacks. He was handed four separate death sentences, a life imprisonment sentence and a fine of 3.2 Million Rupees. Shockingly, he had taken part in protests that had happened in the area after Zainab had been found murdered.
The most chilling detail of the case, apart from the obvious, was that out of the 12 cases of rape in Kasur area that happened over the last two years, Ali has confessed to eight of them. But the people responsible for the remaining four haven’t been found yet. Imran Ali is also being linked to the Kasur child sex abuse scandal in which over 300 kids, mostly boys, were sexually abused and assaulted for blackmail and pornographic purposes. This scandal caused a nationwide outrage and there were reports of a cover-up in the case by the police and members of the ruling party.
Meanwhile, the convicted serial rapist has now appealed to Pakistan High Court against the decision of the Anti-Terrorist Court, declaring himself “not guilty” of the crimes. What a brazen act on his part, considering there is forensic evidence, polygraph tests and 56 witnesses to prove his crime, apart from his own confession. Even the defence lawyer, Mian Sultan Masood, admitted that it was a fair trial and said “It was a fair trial. The accused had confessed his crime. In this context, he was correctly sentenced to death.”
Images: NDTV, CBC News, Daily Mail
