An anti-terrorism court
(ATC) on Saturday found Imran Ali —
the man accused of raping and
murdering seven-year-old Zainab
Amin in Kasur last month — guilty of
the charges brought against him, and
handed him four counts of the death
penalty, one life term, a 7-year jail
term and Rs 4.1 million in fines.
The verdict was announced by ATC
Judge Sajjad Ahmad at the Kot
Lakhpat Jail, where Imran Ali is being
held.
The four death penalties were for
kidnapping, raping and murdering
Zainab, and for committing an act of
terrorism under Section 7 of the Anti-
Terrorism Act.
ATA’s section 7 (a) reads: “Death of
any person is caused, shall be
punishable, on conviction, with death
or with imprisonment for life, and
with fine.”
The life sentence, along with a Rs1
million fine, was handed to Ali for
sodomy; another 7-year jail sentence
and Rs1 million fine were imposed
for disrespecting the dead body by
throwing it in a trash heap.
Additionally, Rs1 million from the
penalties imposed will be paid to the
victim’s heirs, the judge ruled.
Ali faces further charges in the cases
of at least seven other children he
attacked — five of whom were
murdered — in a spate of assaults
that had stoked fears a serial child
killer was on the loose. He has
confessed to all eight attacks,
including the death of Zainab.
Briefing reporters about the sentence,
Punjab Prosecutor General Ehtesham
Qadir said the accused had been
given ample chance to defend
himself, but he chose to confess his
crimes despite being told clearly that
any information he divulged would be
used against him.
“When he was read the charges, we
asked the court to let Imran Ali
deliberate the matter for 40 minutes,”
the prosecutor said. “The convict
was then told that anything he says
will be used against him in court,
after which he confessed. After this,
we also proved the voluntariness of
the convict in court and then
proceeded to trial.”
Nonetheless, the prosecution chose
to submit all its evidence in court so
that the case remained airtight. The
prosecutor also said this was “the
first case to examine scientific
evidence” in a case of this nature.
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