Serial child rapist in northwest Pakistan handed four death sentences, four life terms

A Pakistani court sentenced a serial child rapist and murderer to death Tuesday, imposing four death penalties and four life terms for sexually assaulting three young girls and killing two of them in a case that horrified the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Judge Muhammad Hanif of the Special Child Protection Court announced the verdict against Sohail, also known as Malangi, following completion of arguments from both prosecution and defense attorneys.

The court sentenced Sohail to death twice under Pakistan's murder statutes and twice under rape provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code. He received four additional life imprisonment terms under provincial child protection laws.

"The prosecution has successfully proved its case against the accused for the offences," the court stated in its conviction warrant, ordering that Sohail "be [hanged] by his neck till he is dead."

The judge also imposed a fine of PKR 2.7 million on the convicted man, with an additional four years' imprisonment if the money is not paid. The fine must be distributed to the families of the deceased victims and the survivors.

Under Pakistan's legal system, all death sentences require confirmation by higher courts before execution can proceed. The court directed jail authorities to carry out the hanging "subject to confirmation of the sentence by the Peshawar High Court."

The crimes occurred over three consecutive Sundays between July 3-17, 2022, across different areas of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Sohail was arrested on July 28, 2022.

Public Prosecutor Arif Bilal said the accused confessed before a magistrate and substantial evidence supported the convictions. The attacks were reported to three different police stations — Gulberg, East Cantt, and West Cantt — resulting in separate criminal cases.

Investigation and arrest

Police initially struggled with the investigation until a breakthrough came from analyzing more than 1,000 hours of closed-circuit television footage, according to Moazzam Jah Ansari, who was the inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police when the arrests occurred.

Ansari stated that there were no initial leads in the first two cases. However, investigators managed to identify a breakthrough in the final seconds of CCTV footage after analyzing over a thousand hours of video, which ultimately led to the arrest of the accused.

According to police sources, Sohail was himself a victim of childhood sexual abuse. “He worked at an embroidery unit, and the assaults were reportedly carried out on Sundays, when he was off duty,” the sources said.

Pakistan has struggled with high rates of child sexual abuse, with rights groups reporting thousands of cases annually. The country's legal system allows for death sentences in the most serious crimes, though executions have been relatively rare in recent years.