ABU DHABI: The family of Azan Majid Janjua said a public execution of the accused would serve to discourage such criminals and help protect other young children.

Speaking to Gulf News after the judgment, Dr Majid Janjua, the boy’s father, said, “Justice has been served but we want him to be executed in front of the public so it would be an example for other criminals.

“My son is not going to come back, but the penalty should so harsh that other parents can feel safe for their children,” he said.

The boy, Azan, went missing in May and his body was later recovered from the rooftop of the building where he lived with his family. The acuused, his uncle, raped and murdered him during Ramadan this year with a Quran found next to the body as the boy was returning home after Asr prayer.

“Our family have found the preliminary court’s judgment of executing the killer satisfactory; that would help be a lesson to other criminals. We will feel the pain until he is executed,” he said.

The family is traumatised by the unspeakable crime committed by a close relative “who used to share meals with us and stay at our home,” Dr Janjua said.

The accused, Mohsen Bilal, is the brother of Dr Janjua’s second wife, while the murdered son was by his first wife, a Russian.

“The culprit’s mother died in May in Pakistan and I travelled with him to pay homage and perform the last rites. After 20 days, when he returned to Abu Dhabi, he committed the heinous crime,” Dr Janjua said.

“He was without a job in Pakistan but my father helped bring him to Abu Dhabi and got him settled here. But he shamed us all. It’s an intolerable pain we feel and that is why we want him to be publicly executed,” Dr Janjua said.