Pakistan executed Imran Ali Wednesday, the man convicted of the killing a six-year-old girl in a murder that sparked outrage around the world earlier this year.
The body of six-year-old Zainab Ansari was found in a garbage dump in Kasur, Pakistan in January, days after her parents reported her missing. Police said she had been raped and strangled.
Zainab’s father, Amin Ansari, said Ali’s execution Wednesday left him “satisfied,” according to the BBC.
Ali, 24, was arrested in January after confessing to the crime. His DNA was also found at the scene according to Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Zainab’s case was the latest among a spate of attacks and abductions targeting children in the city of Kasur, outside of Lahore. Police had recorded 12 child murders in the city in two years, which they believed to be linked, according to the BBC. Ali was later convicted of similar crimes against six other girls.
The grisly murder set in motion a wave of public backlash with resentful parents and families demonstrating against perceived police inaction. The hashtag #JusticeForZainab circulated around the world. Protests in Kasur turned deadly after authorities opened fire on rioters trying storm police headquarters, killing two.
Ali was convicted in February and given four death penalties, seven years in jail and a 4.1 million rupee ($31,000) fine for kidnapping, raping and murdering Zainab, as well as for committing an act of terror, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
In June, the country’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal, and last week Pakistani president Arif Alvi refused Ali’s request for a reprieve.
