LAHORE: Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Sajjad Ahmad on Monday framed charges against Imran Ali, an alleged pedophile, rapist and murderer of seven-year old Zainab of Kasur.
The accused was produced before the judge in Kot Lakhpat Jail where jail trial of Zainab murder case is in process. The judge asked the accused whether he admits the charges levelled against him in the challan.
The accused refused to admit the charges after which the court indicted him in the case and started regular trial proceedings. The prosecution also presented 12 witnesses before the court after the indictment. The court recorded statements of the witnesses and summoned more witness for Tuesday (today).
The trial of this case will take place inside jail and on day-to-day basis as per the directions of the Lahore High Court and more likely to conclude within a week. Earlier, the ATC prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattu had informed the court that the different evidences have been collected, including CCTV footage, DNA test, polygraph test, accused’s clothes and others.
The prosecutor also submitted a list of 55 prosecution witnesses before the court. As per police investigation, Imran took Zainab, 7-year old girl, to an under-construction house where he raped and killed her and later dropped her body at a dumping site near her house.
Zainab was kidnapped from near her aunt’s house in Kasur on January 4. Her body was discovered in a garbage heap five days later. The public demand for immediate arrest of the culprit resulted in an unprecedented search in which almost all law enforcement and secret agencies took part and a large pool of suspects were probed, besides carrying out DNA profiling of more than 1,100 people.
The accused is also on remand in murder of seven other minor girls, including Eman Fatima. It is pertinent to mention here that in Eman Fatima rape and murder case Punjab police had already encountered one Mudassar.
