Murder of Zainab Ansari

Zainab Ansari (Urdu: زینب أنصاری‎) was a seven-year-old Pakistani girl who was abducted on her way to a Quran recital on 4 January 2018. Her body was discovered discarded upon a garbage disposal site close to the city of Lahore on 9 January. The child had been raped and strangled.[2] Her murderer, 24-year-old Imran Ali, was determined to be a serial killer responsible for at least seven previous murders of prepubescent girls.[3]

Zainab Ansari
Zainab Ansari in 2017
Born
Zainab Amin Ansari

2011
Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan
Disappeared4 January 2018
Kasur, Pakistan
Diedc. 7 January 2018
Cause of deathHomicide by strangulation[1]
Known forVictim of serial child murder
Zainab Alert Bill
Parents
  • Mohammed Amin Ansari (father)
  • Nusrat Ansari (mother)

Ansari's murder incited widespread protests and outrage in Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan.[4][5] Her murder ultimately led to the passage of Pakistan's first national child abuse law, known as the Zainab Alert Bill,[6] which directs that any individual found guilty of child abuse faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. This bill also stipulates instigating legal action against any police officials who cause any unnecessary delay in investigating such cases within two hours of a child being reported missing.[7]

Event

The incident happened when Zainab's parents had gone to Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah and Zainab was temporarily living with her uncle. On 4 January 2018, while going to a Quran tuition class which was very close to her house, she went missing. Her uncle, Muhammad Adnan, lodged a complaint with the Kasur District Police Office. CCTV video footage, which was discovered by Ansari's family members with no help from the authorities, shows her accompanied by an unknown bearded man in white clothes and a jacket, holding her by the hand and walking on Peerowala Road in Kasur. Her body was later found in a garbage heap in Shahbaz Khan Road on 9 January 2018. After an autopsy, it was confirmed that she had been raped and strangled to death. The autopsy suggested that she endured captivity and torture before her murder.[8]

Protests

Prior to the murder of Zainab Ansari, the province of Punjab had seen several paedophilia scandals, with police accused of inaction and/or cover-up efforts.[9] Following Ansari's murder, protests in many major cities including the capital, Islamabad, saw candlelight vigils,[10] vehicles burned, roads blockaded and several clashes with police.[11] Two people were killed after they broke into a police station.[12][13][14][15] Four policemen who allegedly opened fire at protesters "[had] been arrested and being interrogated."[16]

Reaction

Punjab chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said:

Deeply pained about brutal murder of an 8-year-old girl in a child molestation case. Those societies that cannot protect its children are eternally condemned. Not going to rest till the perpetrators of this dastardly act are apprehended & given severest possible punishment under the law[17]

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai wrote on Twitter, "This has to stop. [Government] and the concerned authorities must take action."[18][19] Imran Khan, the Prime minister of Pakistan and a former cricketer, tweeted, "The condemnable & horrific rape & murder of little Zainab exposes once again how vulnerable our children are in our society."[20]

Cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a political rival of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, "demanded the local government be replaced, saying it has 'no right to remain in power after the killing of Zainab Ansari'".

Kiran Naz, a news anchor on Pakistan's Samaa TV, hosted a January 10 bulletin with her young daughter on her lap as an act of protest.[21] At the Sindh Assembly, artist celebrities Ayesha Omer, Nadia Hussain, Faysal Qureshi and others met on January 12 with Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, demanding laws and justice to prevent such tragedies in the future.[22] Mahira Khan, Ali Zafar, Imran Abbas, Mawra Hocane, and Saba Qamar, as well as former cricket players Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar tweeted about the incident, condemning the brutal rape and murder, while also trending the hashtag #JusticeforZainab.[23]

Arrest

Shahbaz Sharif announced the arrest of a suspect, Imran Ali, in a press conference on 23 January 2018.[24] He confirmed that polygraph test and the DNA of the suspect matched with the samples with least eight minor girls, including Zainab, who were raped and murdered in within the same neighbourhood and that the suspect is a serial killer. Imran Ali was a 24-year-old mechanic who lived in Zainab's neighbourhood. He had even taken part in protests against Zainab's murder.[25] Imran Ali confessed to his crimes.[26] Police also found the jacket worn by the suspect, which was seen on CCTV while he was taking Zainab with him.[27][28][3]

Sentencing

On 17 February 2018, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore Central Jail found Imran Ali guilty of raping and murdering Zainab Ansari. The court handed him four counts of the death penalty, one life term, a seven-year jail term and Rs. 3.2 million in fines.[1] He was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Zainab and twelve other underage girls, and was executed in the early morning of October 17, 2018, at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail.[29]

The black warrant for Imran's execution was carried out at 5:30 am in accordance with the prevailing law on capital punishment.

Zainab Alert Bill
Main article: Zainab Alert Bill

In 2020, the Parliament of Pakistan passed the Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Act, also known as the Zainab Alert Bill, named after Zainab Ansari. The bill outlines systems designed to improve the country's responses to missing child cases.[30][31]

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See also

References
  1. Bilal, Rana. "Imran Ali handed 4 counts of the death sentence, life term in Zainab rape and murder case". Dawn. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  2. "Pakistan Passes Law Against Child Abuse in Wake of Zainab Ansari Case". The Guardian. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  3. "Zainab's murderer caught, is a 'serial killer', confirms CM Shehbaz". Geo TV. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  4. "Zainab murder: Riots in Pakistan's Kasur after child rape and killing". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  5. Polianskaya, Alina (10 January 2018). "Zainab Ansari killing: Two people died in Pakistan protests over the alleged rape and murder of eight-year-old girl". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. "NA approves Zainab Alert Bill Two Years After Uproar over Kasur Killings". The Dawn. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  7. geo.tv
  8. "6-year-old Zainab's autopsy suggests child endured rape, captivity before murder". Dawn. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  9. "Pakistan Zainab Murder: New Law Aims to Catch Child Abusers". BBC. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  10. "The Worrying Trend of Violent Crimes Against Children in Pakistan's Kasur". The Wire. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  11. "Protests in Pakistan over Inaction on Rape and Murder of Girl, Seven". The Guardian. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  12. "Pakistan mob angered by rape, murder of girl attacks police". CTV. 10 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  13. "Parents of raped and murdered girl, 7, seek justice". Al Jazeera. 10 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  14. Erickson, Amanda (10 January 2018). "A 7-year-old Pakistani girl was raped, strangled and left in a dumpster". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  15. "Kasur: Two dead in protests, Tahir ul-Qadri leads Zainab's funeral prayer". Daily Times. 10 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  16. @GovtOfPunjab (11 January 2018). "All the four accused policemen who opened fire on protestors in Kasur yesterday have been arrested and being interrogated. JIT, comprising officials from Police & intelligence agencies, are working on Zainab murder case & will locate the main accused soon IA. #JusticeForZainab" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 January 2018 – via Twitter.
  17. "Justice for Zainab: Riots erupt in Kasur after 7-year-old's rape, murder". Dawn. 10 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  18. Yousafzai, Malala (10 January 2018). "Heartbroken to hear about Zainab - a 7 year old child abused and brutally killed in Kasur, Pakistan. This has to stop. Gov and the concerned authorities must take action. #JusticeForZainab". Twitter. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  19. "Father lashes out at cops over Pakistani girl's rape, murder". CBS News. 11 January 2018. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  20. "Zainab Ansari Killing: What Has The Reaction Been in Pakistan and Why Have the Protests Turned Violent?". The Independent. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  21. "Pakistani anchor goes on air with daughter to protest minor's brutal rape and murder". Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  22. "Speedy trial needed for justice in Kasur-like tragedies: Ayesha Omar". Geo TV. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  23. "Justice for Zainab: Ali Zafar, Mahira Khan condemn the brutal rape and murder of the 8-year old girl". Times Now News. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  24. Riaz, Waseem (23 January 2018). "'Zainab's murderer has been arrested'". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  25. "Kasur rape case: Murderer of 8-year-old Zainab arrested". Muhammad Shehzad. The Express Tribune. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  26. "Zainab's murderer is a serial killer: Punjab CM". Samaa TV. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  27. "Police arrest main accused in Zainab killing case after DNA matches". Daily Pakistan. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  28. "Pakistan official: Suspect arrested in killing of 7-year-old". Washington Post. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  29. "Pakistan hangs six-year-old Zainab's killer". BBC News. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  30. "What you need to know about the Zainab Alert Bill". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  31. "President Alvi ratifies Zainab Alert Bill 2020 | Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
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