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Javed's sentence brings sigh of relief to parents

LAHORE: Capital punishment awarded to serial killer Javed Iqbal Mughal on Thursday has brought sigh of relief to the aggrieved parents whose children were mercilessly slaughtered in a systematic manner.

The local press broke the gruesome story of alleged killing by Javed Iqbal in early November while the Ravi Road Police registered FIR in this connection on December 2 last.

The unprecedented and callous incident, the first of its kind in the country, attracted huge media coverage both at home and abroad, that brought considerable embarrassment to the law enforcing agencies for their failure to provide security and protection to citizens.

The gory incident shook the entire provincial administration which resulted in major shake-up at all level, particularly when the only eye witness Ishaq Billa died in police custody.

Following inquiry by the one-man tribunal, the government transferred DIG Lahore Iqbal Malik, SSP, Lahore Saud Aziz while SP, CIA, Pervaiz Qandhari and DSP Tariq Kamboh were suspended.

Javed Iqbal evaded police for a month which could not locate him despite its best efforts. Eventually, Javed surrendered before a local Urdu Daily to whom it had despatched photographs of children alleged to have been murdered by him after sodomizing them.

He was taken in by the military authorities on December 31. Realising importance and sensitivity of the case, the authorities after completing all legal formalities filed a case in a local court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Lahore Allah Buksh Ranja who conducted day to day trial of the case before awarding capital punishment to the accused here on Thursday.

Although the accused has been granted right to appeal against the verdict of the lower court to the High Court, the parents of the missing children are now pinning their hopes on the superior courts to retain the judgement which would serve as some kind of consolation for the aggrieved families.ÑAPP