Feb. 17 (UPI) — A Pakistani court sentenced a 24-year-old man Saturday to four death sentences in the raping and killing of a 7-year old girl last month.
The country’s special anti-terrorism court in Lahore convicted Mohammad Imran Ali after Zainab Ansari’s body was found in a trash dump in Kasur district near Lahore, in Punjab province, on Jan. 9, two days after she disappeared.
Ali, a neighbor of the family, was arrested on Jan. 23.
“I am very thankful to the chief justice; he treated Zainab like his own daughter,” Zainab’s father Amin Ansari told Al Jazeera.
The child’s mother, Nusrat, wants him to die violently.
“I want him hanged where he threw Zainab’s body. And he should be stoned. Hanging him is just ordinary for him,” Nusrat Amin told Al Jazeera. “Everyone should take part in stoning him. And this thing about four hangings, one hanging, two hangings, what difference does it make? I want him hanged where he killed my girl.”
Zainab’s family will receive $15,530 from the attacker.
He has 15 days to appeal but Ehtesham Qadir, the public prosecutor, the verdict can’t be challenged because Imran has confessed to eight similar attacks.
Two protesters died in rioting demonstrating against the police’s delay in finding the killer.
Ali, a neighbor of the family, was arrested. Zaineb was the victim.