Two rapists sent to the gallows

Staff Report

MULTAN: An anti-terrorism court’s pledge to tackle terror reached its pinnacle as two people convicted of rape were hanged to death in Bahawalpur’s New Central Jail on Thursday morning.

Amir Ali and Mushtaq Ahmed, aged 28 and 29, who sexually assaulted a kidnapped teenage girl, Haleema, on May 15, 1999, were given a penance in the presence of Dr Muhammad Ishaq and Javed Iqbal, a magistrate.

Earlier, in another rape case, two men were also given death on November 30 with the medical officer and a local magistrate as witnesses and beheaded.

The rapists, Aqueelur Rehman and Muhammad Nazim, had filed appeals in the High and Supreme Courts but their pleas proved vain following a flat refusal by the victim’s family to pardon them.

Another man charged with rape, Rehmatullah, has been facing a rape-parole for 15 days as his counsel seeks reconciliation with the girl’s family. President Pervez Musharraf, however, has issued a demand to know of any compromise proceedings between the two families and ordered the district coordination officer, Lodhran, to submit the statements of the aggrieved party after verification, saying in case of a dead-end, the presidency must be informed so as to forward a fresh black warrant.

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