Death sentence for man who killed eight children upheld by Pakistan supreme court
Victim's include seven-year-old girl whose rape and murder sparked nationwide condemnation
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Your support makes all the difference.Pakistan’s Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence for a man who killed eight children.
Mohammad Imran's victims included a seven-year-old girl whose rape and murder sparked nationwide condemnation earlier in the year.
The court order issued on Tuesday took place months after Mr Imran challenged the death sentence he was issued with in February. He claimed his trial was not fair.
He still has the right to seek clemency from President Mamnoon Hussain.
Mr Imran was arrested in January after he raped and killed seven-year-old Zainab Ansari and threw her body into a rubbish dump in the city of Kasur in eastern Punjab province.
The death sparked widespread protests at the time.
His arrest shed light on seven more killings - spurring Pakistanis to call for him to be publicly executed.
A three-member bench stated that “as regards the sentences passed by the trial court against the petitioner which sentences had subsequently been upheld and confirmed by the High Court Lahore, we may observe that the crimes committed by the petitioner were absolutely horrendous and barbaric and the same had been committed with a minor and innocent girl aged about 7/8 years.”
“The petitioner had not only deceitfully kidnapped her but had also brutalised her by committing sodomy and rape with her and had then ultimately killed her mercilessly.”
In January, Zainab’s father Ameen called on the government to publicly punish the perpetrator.
“If the culprits are punished publicly then it will serve as a deterrent for preventing similar cases,” he said.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
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