Death for Pakistan serial killer



A court in the Pakistani city of Lahore has found Javed Iqbal guilty of murdering 100 boys.



Iqbal, said to be the country's worst serial killer, and a co-accused were sentenced to death. Two others received jail terms.



You will be strangled to death in front of the parents whose children you killed

Judge Allah Bukhsh Ranjha Judge Allah Bukhsh Ranjha invoked Islamic law, saying Iqbal and one of his co-accused deserved to die in the same manner as their victims.



"You will be strangled to death in front of the parents whose children you killed," he said.



"Your body will then be cut into 100 pieces and put in acid, the same way you killed the children."



Iqbal had confessed to killing the children and dissolving their bodies in acid-filled containers in a house in Lahore.

Iqbal's drama December 1999

Confesses in letter

Surrenders to police



January 2000

Formally charged with murders



February 2000

Pleads not guilty



However Pakistan's interior minister said such a sentence was not permitted, and would be challenged in the High Court.



Moinudeen Haider said: "We are signatories to the Human Rights Commission. Such punishments are not allowed."



Detective stories



Iqbal's lawyers are also planning to appeal against the verdict. They said he had not committed any murders and his confession was obtained under duress.



"Police threatened Iqbal during his three-week physical remand which resulted in the confessional statement recorded under duress," defence lawyer Abdul Baqi told the court.



Mr Baqi claimed some of the missing children believed to have been killed by the accused had gone back to their homes.



Iqbal told the judge that his earlier admission had been a fake, based on Western detective stories.



He said he made up the confession to bring the issue of absconding boys and child sex to the government's notice.



The judge said he was not convinced by Iqbal's explanation.



Decomposed bodies



The prosecution produced 105 witnesses, including 73 family members of the missing children.



Police said they recovered the decomposed bodies of three children from Mr Iqbal's house.



They allegedly recovered several bundles of children's clothes and shoes from the premises, as well as an album of photographs of young boys.



Throughout the two-month trial, parents of the missing children gathered outside the courtroom, calling for the death sentence.



The judge announced the verdict to a packed court on Thursday after viewing a videotaped interview with Iqbal conducted at the time of his arrest.However Pakistan's interior minister said such a sentence was not permitted, and would be challenged in the High Court.Moinudeen Haider said: "We are signatories to the Human Rights Commission. Such punishments are not allowed."Iqbal's lawyers are also planning to appeal against the verdict. They said he had not committed any murders and his confession was obtained under duress."Police threatened Iqbal during his three-week physical remand which resulted in the confessional statement recorded under duress," defence lawyer Abdul Baqi told the court.