LAHORE March 20 (TNS): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday disposed of a plea filed by convict Imran Ali against his death sentence in the seven-year-old Zainab’s murder case.
A five-member bench headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan heard the petition. Justice Shahram Sarwar remarked that only Imran’s DNA, of 1187 people tested, matched with the victim girl’s gene confirming him the prime culprit.
The judge questioned his counsel that the convict has filed the plea to reduce his sentence while “you are giving arguments for his bail”. On the other hand, the investigation has already proven him guilty, he said.
“No one should raise objections when the court gives justice on time,” Justice Sadaqat Ali remarked.
He also rejected the plea of convict’s lawyer to grant him time for arguments.
Earlier, Haji Ameen Ansari, the father of the victim, had filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking security due to threats from convict Imran Ali’s family. He said that Imran’s relatives were harassing and pressuring them.
Imran Ali has filed an appeal against the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) decision in LHC. He said that legal requirements were not ensured as the proceedings were concluded in a hurry.
On February 17, ATC handed over four counts of the death penalty to Imran while he was also given four separate death sentences after he was found guilty of the rape and murder of Zainab.
Seven-year-old Zainab went missing on January 4 on her way back to home from maternal aunt’s house. On January 8, her body was found in a garbage dump in the city of Kasur.
Zainab had torture marks on her nose, neck and other parts of the body and she was raped before the murder, revealed the medical report.
