Family relief at hanging stay for Pakistan ‘teen’ killer

AFP, MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: Relatives of a Pakistani death row prisoner said yesterday they "felt a wave of life" when his execution was halted to examine claims he was a juvenile when the crime was committed.
The reprieve for Shafqat Hussain, sentenced to hang for killing a seven-year-old boy in Karachi in 2004, came just hours before he was due to face the gallows around dawn at a prison in the city.
It was his fourth stay of execution in five months in a case that has prompted grave concern among international rights campaigners and the United Nations.
Hussain's lawyers and family claim he was under 18 at the time of the killing, and therefore is not eligible for execution under Pakistani law. They also claim he was tortured into confessing.
His brother Manzoor Hussain said relatives gathered in Muzaffarabad, the main town of Pakistani Kashmir where the family hails from, to keep a vigil during the night of the expected hanging.
"When we were informed at 3:00 am that he has survived, we felt a wave of life inside us," he told AFP.
"We were not expecting this, we had even found a place for his grave in a local cemetery here in Muzaffarabad." Hussain's elderly mother Makhni Begum said she had faith that God would spare her son.

 

Family relief at hanging stay for Pakistan teen killer

AFP, MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: Relatives of a Pakistani death row prisoner said yesterday they felt a wave of life when his execution was halted to examine claims he was a juvenile when the crime was committed. The reprieve for Shafqat Hussain, sentenced to hang for killing a seven-year-old boy in Karachi in 2004, came just hours before he was due to face the gallows around dawn at a prison in the city. It was his fourth stay of execution in five months in a case that has prompted grave concern among international rights campaigners and the United Nations. Hussains lawyers and family claim he was under 18 at the time of the killing, and therefore is not eligible for execution under Pakistani law. They also claim he was tortured into confessing. His brother Manzoor Hussain said relatives gathered in Muzaffarabad, the main town of Pakistani Kashmir where the family hails from, to keep a vigil during the night of the expected hanging. When we were informed at 3:00 am that he has survived, we felt a wave of life inside us, he told AFP. We were not expecting this, we had even found a place for his grave in a local cemetery here in Muzaffarabad. Hussains elderly mother Makhni Begum said she had faith that God would spare her son.