KARACHI(National Times)- A sessions court on Friday sentenced a man to death on charges of rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in 2022.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Naseer Noor Khan found Muhammad Irfan, a plumber by profession, guilty of the crime and handed him capital punishment on two counts — for committing rape and murder.

The court also ordered the convict to pay total Rs1 million to the legal heir of the girl as compensation.

According to the prosecution, on Dec 8, 2022, the victim’s parents left home for work, while her sister also had gone to her university and she was alone at home. The convict had come to the victim’s house to repair a sink and raped the teenage girl and later murdered her by strangulating her, it added.

In his statement given to the police, the accused stated that he had went to the house to repair a sink and later he committed rape with the girl and when the doorbell rang he “put his hands on her mouth as result she suffocated and expired”.

A case was registered at the Mubina Town police station under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 376 (rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code against the accused, who was caught red-handed by area people.

After the verdict, the mother of the victim girl, who has been seeking justice for the past four years, welcomed the court’s decision and said that people had advised her not to pursue the case as the courts would not deliver justice.

However, she said that she had faith in Allah and believed that one day justice would certainly be served.

She demanded that the accused be hanged in her presence or in public place.