Killer of 6-Year-Old Zainab Ansari Hanged in Pakistan

Mohammad Imran, the man who was convicted of raping and killing 6-year-old Zainab Ansari, was hanged on Oct. 17 at a prison in the city of Lahore.

Imran murdered Zainab and threw her body into a garbage dump. Zainab’s body was found near her aunt’s house in Kasur on Jan. 9, five days after she was abducted.

Authorities said Zainab was strangled to death.

DNA samples were collected from over 1,000 people in the area through Jan. 23. Officers arrested Imran, a neighbor of Zainab, after his DNA matched samples collected from the 6-year-old and seven other victims.

Imran confessed to the slayings and pleaded guilty after his arrest. He was convicted of raping and murdering eight minors in February.

After his conviction, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore issued multiple so-called black warrants and scheduled the execution for Oct. 17, DAWN reported.

Zainab Ansari, 6, stands outside her home in Kasur in Pakistan's Punjab Province in a file photo. Family Handout/AFP/Getty Images

“Imran was taken to the gallows just before dawn and he has been hanged with a rope in the presence of the magistrate and a doctor,” local police official Mohammad Afzal said.

Mohammed Amin Ansari, Zainab’s father, was allowed to witness the execution. Ansari had demanded that Imran should be hanged at some public place in order to deter others, but the motion was turned down by the judges.

Shortly after witnessing Imran’s execution, Ansari thanked the judiciary, government, and investigators for giving them speedy justice.

“My daughter will not come back, but I am satisfied that we got justice,” he said.

Zainab’s Killing Ignites National Protests

Zainab’s rape and murder shocked the nation after a photo of her went viral on social media, showing the smiling girl in her favorite bright pink coat, with a pink barrette in her hair.

Pakistanis rallied across the country, demanding the immediate arrest of the killer. Two protesters were killed by police officers during the protests.

Pakistani policemen escort Mohammad Imran, convicted or raping and murdering multiple young girls, as they leave an anti-terrorist court after a hearing in Lahore on Feb. 9, 2018. Imran was sentenced to death on Oct. 12, 2018. AFP/Getty Images

The abduction, rape, and murder was the 12th to occur in Kasur over a 12-month period.

Kasur is a congested district of around 2.5 million people in eastern Pakistan, near the border with India. The city of Kasur is surrounded by brick kilns and tanneries and has hundreds of small factories making shoes and embroidery, all of which employ children who are vulnerable to abuse.

In 2015, an extensive child pornography ring was uncovered in the city; it had been flourishing for nearly a decade and involved nearly 250 children, some of whom were forced at gunpoint to have sex.

Associated Press reporter Zaheer Barbar and NTD reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From NTD.tv