Pakistani serial killer hanged for raping, killing 7-year-old girl
Lahore, Oct 17 : A serial killer of minor girls was executed at a jail in Lahore on Wednesday after he was convicted and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court for raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl, in an incident that sparked outrage and violent protests in Pakistan early this year.
Imran Ali, 24, who was convicted for the rape and murder of the minor girl in Kasur city, some 50-km from Lahore, was hanged at 5.30am in the presence of the victim's father Amin Ansari and magistrate Adil Sarwar in Kot Lakhpat Central Jail. The girl's uncle was also present at the jail.
A resident of Kasur, Imran was accused of being involved in at least nine incidents of rape-cum-murder of minors. The court has given its verdict in five cases.
Imran had told police that he committed the heinous crime after he got addicted to sex by watching child pornography.
In January, police arrested Imran through a DNA match two weeks after he raped and killed the minor girl and threw her body into a garbage dump in Kasur.
The incident triggered nation-wide street protests in Pakistan with people demanding a harsh punishment for the convict. Violent protests following the girl's murder claimed two lives in Kasur.
He was sentenced to death in February for the minor girl's rape and murder. His appeals against the verdict failed and earlier this month President Arif Alvi rejected a plea for clemency.
An anti-terrorism court in Lahore last week ruled that Imran's death sentence will be carried out on October 17 at Lahore's Central Jail.
Amin Ansari, the victim's father, filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, seeking public hanging of Imran.
A two-member Lahore High Court bench comprising Justice Sardar Shamim Ahmed and Justice Shahbaz Rizvi on Tuesday dismissed Ansari's plea and ordered Imran's execution in the jail.
Ansari's counsel had also requested the court to allow a live telecast of the hanging inside the jail. The court did not agree and dismissed the plea.
Contingents of police and anti-riot forces surrounded Kot Lakhpat jail at the time of Imran's hanging.
Talking to reporters after Imran's hanging, Ansari said: "Today I am happy to see the murderer of my daughter hanged. The beast met his end."
He said his family is devastated by the loss of his beloved daughter. Ansari regretted that the authorities did not allow the live telecast of the hanging. He, however, thanked the chief justice of Pakistan and said that the "murderer had met his fate today". After the execution, Imran's family accompanied by police contingents took his body to Kasur.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
