KASUR: The father of Zainab Ansari, a victim of Kasur’s grisly rape-murder incident, has demanded that the government dedicate a day (Jan 10) to her memory one year on.

Amin Ansari had earlier demanded that he should be allowed to meet the perpetrator but officials allegedly failed to fulfill the promise. He could only have a glimpse of the killer when he was brought to the gallows. Zainab’s family and other residents of Kasur had also sought public hanging of convict Imran Ali.

Mr Ansari told Dawn that he had arranged a gathering on Jan 10 in remembrance of Zainab and would like the government to observe it as ‘Zainab Day’ so that it could highlight the urgency to ensure safety and rights of children. He said child abuse incidents were on the rise and it’s time the state showed its resolve to track down the perpetrators.

Six-year-old Zainab went missing on Jan 4, 2018 and her body was found on a heap of trash at Roadkot, a place at a stone’s throw from her house, five days after her abduction.

‘Justice For Zainab’ started trending on the social media and the incident also drew attention of the national and international media, forcing the authorities to form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to trace the killer of little Zainab.

The ensuing riots resulted in casualties including killing of two protesters by police officials deputed at the deputy commissioner’s office. The protesters had earlier set the offices of local PML-N parliamentarians and scores of vehicles ablaze.

Law enforcers collected the DNA profiles of more than 1,150 suspects and finally it was the DNA No 184 that solved the mystery on Jan 20. Police took into custody Imran Ali who worked as a mason in Kasur and had earlier evaded arrest by feigning heart problem.

Ali, as suggested by the DNA profiling, turned out to be the rapist and killer of Zainab and seven other minor girls. He was executed on Oct 17 last.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2019