Senate body seeks public hanging for child rapists, murderers

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has proposed an amendment in the Pakistan Penal Code to publicly hang convicts found guilty of kidnapping, murdering, or raping children under 14 years of age.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018 seeks to amend the PPC's Section 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14).

"Whoever kidnaps or abducts any person under the [age of fourteen] in order that such person may be murdered or subjected to grievous hurt... or to the lust of any person [sic] shall be punished with death," the law currently reads. The amendment seeks to add the words "by hanging publicly" at the end after the word "death" to Section 364-A.

In a letter to the Secretariat earlier this week, Senator Rehman Malik, who is the chairman of the standing committee, has urged the Senate to take up the bill before the current session ends.

The proposed amendment comes as the Punjab government arrested a key suspect over the horrific rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab Amin from Kasur—a case that has left the nation shocked and devastated.

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On Tuesday, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif echoed the same call when he announced the arrest of Zainab's suspected killer and rapist.

"Zainab's murderer has been caught. His name is Mohammad Imran. He is a 24-year-old resident of Kasur and he is a serial killer," Shehbaz told a press conference in Lahore.

"If law allows, the beast should be publicly hanged at the square," he said.

An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday remanded the suspect in custody for 14 days.

Growing anger

Weeks earlier, Zainab's murder sparked outrage across the country with riots erupting in Kasur as thousands swarmed police stations and set fire to politicians' homes, while Pakistanis took to social media demanding action.

As Ali appeared in court under heavy security on Wednesday, Pakistanis across the country demanded capital punishment on social media.

"Hang the child killer publicly now!! Nothing less than death penalty!" wrote Ayesha J Khan on Twitter.

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According to the victim's father Ameen Ansari, Ali – who lived nearby – had participated in the initial protests that erupted after Zainab's body was discovered.

"He was the person who insisted upon continuing the protests and keeping the body of Zainab on road when we had negotiations with the police chief and agreed to bury Zainab's body," Ansari said.

Ansari said anger has been growing since the arrest with people calling for Ali to be "publicly hanged or stoned to death".

Ehsan Ilahi, the father of another rape victim, who survived being brutally attacked but remains in a critical condition, said nothing short of torture would suffice. "His fingers and hands should be broken. He should be given wounds," he said.