Moreover, on Wednesday, the suspect's private counsel informed the judge that after the suspect's confession, his conscience cannot permit him to represent a hardened criminal. Imran had confessed to the crime on the first day of the trial after his indictment.
The counsel, Mehar Shakeel Multani, had made similar comments before the media on Tuesday. Following the defence counsel's official withdrawal, the Punjab prosecutor general assigned Imran a government lawyer, Mohammad Sultan.
Seven-year-old Zainab was kidnapped from near her aunt’s house in Kasur on January 4 and found dead in a garbage heap five days later. On January 23, the authorities claimed to have nabbed the suspect, a serial killer involved in other such crimes, through a DNA match.
On Monday, ATC Judge had indicted Imran and recorded the statements of 20 witnesses. The Lahore High Court has directed the ATC to wrap up the trial within seven days of the suspect’s indictment.
Imran was arrested on January 23. His DNA also matched samples taken from seven other minor girls who were abused and murdered earlier in Kasur, according to the police.
After the police arrested Imran, the suspect reportedly confessed to assaulting eight minor girls at an under-construction site and two others in a garbage heap in Kasur.