Kasur rape: Pak SC rejects convict's death penalty

The Lahore Registry of the Pakistan Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday dismissed convict Imran Ali's appeal against the death sentence awarded to him for allegedly raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in Kasur.

Ali's appeal was rejected by a three-judge bench, comprising Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Manzoor Ahmed Malik, and Mansoor Ali Shah.

The bench upheld the death penalty which was earlier given to him by an anti-terrorism court (ATC), Geo TV reported.

The minor, a resident of the Kasur district of Pakistan's Punjab province, was kidnapped on her way to a tuition centre on January 4.

Five days after her disappearance, she was found raped, dead and buried in a garbage dump near Kashmir Chowk.

According to the initial post-mortem report, the minor was strangled to death after being raped multiple times.

This incident incited huge protests in Kasur and other major cities of Pakistan.

In February, an ATC in Pakistan framed charges against Ali, the man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting seven other minors. It indicted Ali and started regular proceedings after the accused refused to accept the charges levelled against him in the challan submitted by the police.

Ali appealed to the Lahore High Court saying he did not do anything and pleaded for the verdict to stand "null and void."

Ali was sentenced to death for the murder, rape, and kidnapping of the minor under Section 7-ATA.

ATC Judge Sajjad Ahmad recorded statements of at least 20 prosecution witnesses, including the minor's father and brother.