Karachi, August 12(ANI): An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Pakistan has awarded the death sentence to a Rangers official and life imprisonment to six others in the Sarfaraz Shah extrajudicial killing case.
A total of seven accused had been indicted, including the six Rangers personnel who were caught on tape shooting a young man- identified as Sarfaraz Shah- from point blank range in Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park in Karachi on June 8.
Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso delivered the verdict on Friday that Shahid Zafar, the Rangers official who shot the youth, be hanged till death.
The other five accused personnel and one civilian, Asfar Khan, have been sentenced to life in prison.
It is presently unclear if the defence counsel will appeal against the verdict, the Express Tribune reports.
Sarfaraz's father told Geo News that the court's decision was on merit and that it should be upheld by the superior courts and implemented. "God listened to our prayers, we spent the last two months crying," he added.
His mother said that while she was happy with the decision, complete justice would be served when the death sentence would be carried out.
The killing was caught live on camera, with the video footage showing a man in civilian clothes holding Sarfaraz by his hair and kicking him towards a group of about half a dozen Rangers personnel. A soldier pointed his rifle at the neck of Sarfaraz, who pleaded for mercy, saying: "I am helpless."
The men surrounded Sarfaraz and as he moved towards one with his arms outstretched, he was pushed back and shot twice in the hand and leg. A longer version of the video posted on social networking websites showed the victim lying on the ground, screaming and requesting the Rangers to take him to hospital. (ANI)
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