Execution: Seven convicts hanged in Punjab

While seven murder convicts were hanged, three failed to receive the due punishment

Seven prisoners convicted for murder were hanged in various jails across Punjab early Tuesday morning, Express News reported.

As seven murder convicts were hanged, three others on death row were not hanged for reasons unknown.

Gujranwala

Murder convict Ashraf was hanged in Central Jail Gunjranwala. He was handed death sentence for assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 1991, resulting in her death.

Dera Ghazi Khan

Murder convict Asghar Ali was to be hanged in Central Jail Dera Ghazi Khan on Tuesday, however for reasons unknown he was among the other three death row convicts who despite having orders from the court were not hanged.

Ali had killed his nephew in 2010 over a family dispute.

Faisalabad

Allah Ditta and Younis were executed in Central Jail Faisalabad. Allah Ditta was handed death penalty for murdering a woman in 1991, while 15 years back, Younis had killed two women along with three other people.

Read: Capital punishment: 23 terror convicts among 151 hanged

Sialkot and Lahore

Two death row prisoners, Basharat and Mukhtar were executed in Lakhpat Jails Sialkot and Lahore respectively. While Basharat killed three people in 1999, Mukhtar was convicted for killing a person over a petty issue in 2004.

Earlier last week, Aftab Bahadur Masih was executed in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail despite requests from rights groups and church leaders to halt the execution, terming his conviction as flawed.  

Masih’s lawyers said he was tortured into confessing to murder, in a case that has prompted concern among rights groups and the United Nations.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a de facto moratorium on capital punishment on December 17, a day after Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked a school and killed 132 students and nine teachers. The slaughter put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the militant insurgency.