Man Who Raped & Murdered 7-Yr-Old In Pak Given 4 Death Sentences, While BJP Protects Rapist In India

24-year-old Imran Ali, who brutally raped and murdered seven-year-old Zainab Ansari last month, has been given four death sentences. The punishment was announced by Lahore Central Jail.

He has also been charged with seven other cases of child assault and abuse, where five of the children were murdered.

Imran Ali has confessed to all the eight crimes.

Zainab was raped and murdered last month and her lifeless body was discovered in a dumpster in the eastern city of Kasur. After her murder, protests erupted in the region against the brutal crime.

Ali was handed over four death sentences for the murder of Zainab and terrorism charges. Prosecutor general of Punjab province Ihtesham Qadir said after a special anti-terrorism court passed its judgement, according to the Daily Mail.

Under Pakistani law, crimes that are considered to have spread terror in society can be charged with acts of terrorism. He also has to pay a fine of $30,000.

Zainab’s mother has sought public execution of the accused. “I want him to be hanged publicly at the place where he took Zainab,” she told reporters after the verdict.

Similar case in Kashmir

Riots have started in Kashmir’s Kathua, when an eight-year-old girl from the Bakerwal community was raped and murdered in a similar way like Zainab was on January 10. The eight-year-old went out to graze horses in the nearby forest and did not return.

A week later her decomposed body was found. Marks on her body clearly indicated that she was raped before she was murdered. Mohammad Yusuf, her father said the girl’s “lips had been bitten and there were marks of violence on her thighs and face”.

A minor was initially arrested in relation to the case. Later, on February 10, police arrested a Special Police Officer (SPO) Deepak Khajuria for the crime. Ironically, Khajuria had been a part of the police search team looking for the then missing 8-yr-old victim. And he had also been a part of the police contingent deployed to break up the crowds protesting the rape and murder, reported the Greater Kashmir.

Riots to protect a rapist

The BJP jumped to the defence of the police officer saying that it is a fight against nationals and anti-nationals. They have taken out rallies to protest against the arrest of the accused. Mehbooba Mufti in a disappointed tweet replied, “Appalled by the marches & protests in defence of the recently apprehended rapist in Kathua. Also horrified by their use of our national flag in these demonstrations, this is nothing short of desecration. The accused has been arrested & the law will follow its course.”

“We are protesting because an injustice is being done by the government. And this is being done because our area, the area of Kathua, is inhabited by nationalist people. So, the attempt is to subdue us,” the BJP’s Kathua district president P N Dogra told media while leading a protest. “The fault of the accused (Khajuria) is that he was trying to push back against anti-national elements and those shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. It is part of jihad.” The protests have been taken out under the banner of Hindu Ekta Manch headed by state BJP secretary Vijay Sharma.