Father requests public hanging of Zainab’s killer

LAHORE: Amin Ansari, father of six-year-old Zainab, who was raped and murdered earlier this year, has filed another petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC), seeking directions for public hanging of his daughter's killer.

Ansari said in the petition that convict Imran Ali, who will be executed on Oct 17, could be hanged publicly under Section 22 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, which allows the government to "specify the manner, mode and place of execution of any sentence passed under this Act having regard to the deterrent effect which such execution is likely to have."

"The purpose and objective behind the incorporation of the section is very much clear," the petition said.

The murderer of Zainab should be given exemplary punishment to stop any such tragedy in future," he said. Ansari said that the state had already issued Ali's death warrants and all appeals for the courts to review the sent-ence awarded to him had also been rejected. A two-member LHC bench, comprising Justice Sardar Shamim Ahmed and Justice Shehbaz Rizvi, will hear the appeal on October 15. Ansari had filed similar appeals before; however, they were turned down by the court.