Shafqat Hussain, a murder convict, was hanged today in the Karachi Central Jail. Hussain was hanged for killing a seven-year-old boy in 2004. Shafqat, the youngest of seven children, was working as a watchman in Karachi in 2004 when the seven-year-old boy went missing from the neighborhood.
Shafqat was allowed by authorities to meet his family for the last time before he was hanged. He was originally due to face capital punishment in January but won four stays of execution as his lawyers fought to prove he was under 18 at the time of his offence and could therefore not be executed under Pakistani law.
His case caught a lot of international attention as his lawyers and family claim he was only 15 at the time of the killing and was tortured into confessing. United Nations rights experts have said his trial went against the international standards and urged Pakistan to investigate claims he confessed under torture, as well as his age. Even though, the Sindh government had forwarded a request to the federal government seeking to stop Shafqat’s execution, he was not able to hold onto his life. The request was sent by the Sindh Home Department to the Ministry of Interior seeking a probe into the case by the Supreme Court.
Shafqat Hussain was hanged 10 to 12 minutes before dawn prayers today.
