Petition in Lahore HC seeking death penalty for killer of minor girl

The anti-terrorism court here on Friday issued death warrants for Imran Ali, 23, to be hanged on October 17 in the central jail in Lahore.

A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court on Saturday seeking the death penalty for a killer of a minor girl in Punjab province of Pakistan.

The anti-terrorism court here on Friday issued death warrants for Imran Ali, 23, to be hanged on October 17 in the central jail in Lahore.

In January, police arrested Ali two weeks after he allegedly raped and killed a seven-year-old girl and threw her body into a garbage dump in the city of Kasur, some 50 kms from Lahore. The murder drew nationwide outrage and condemnation and triggered violent protests that claimed two lives.

On Saturday, Amin Ansari, the father of the girl, filed another petition in the high court seeking "public hanging" of Ali.

The petitioner said, "The murderer of my daughter should be given exemplary punishment so as to avoid any such tragedy in future".

In his previous petition, Ansari had demanded that the murderer of his daughter should be hanged on the spot where he had killed her. The girl's mother had said that the suspect should be stoned to death.

A two-member LHC bench comprising Justice Sardar Shamim Ahmed and Justice Shahbaz Rizvi will hear the appeal on October 15.

The Lahore High Court, the Supreme Court and the president had rejected Ali's mercy plea.

Ali reportedly confessed to his crime, saying he became a "pervert" due to an addiction to watching child pornography on the Internet, a law officer informed.