Lahore: Amin Ansari, father of seven-year-old Zainab who was raped and murdered in Kasur in January, has approached the apex court, seeking protection of the family and calling for arrest of the facilitators of her daughter’s killer.

In his application submitted to the Supreme Court Lahore Registry on Friday, Amin Ansari sought protection against harassment, saying that relatives of the convict Imran Ali are harassing his family.

He submitted that death row convict Imran’s family members had consistently been causing harassment and asked the district police officer (DPO) to restrain the family and relatives of Ali from harassing him and his family.

Amin also claimed that Imran’s facilitators were not investigated in the case and demanded their arrest and requested the court to direct the relevant law enforcement and intelligence agencies to trace the suspected facilitators.

Ansari said that his family and neighbourhood residents believe the convict acted with support from facilitators and “gang members” who “have not been interrogated by the local police for reasons best known to them or Imran Ali”.

The tragic rape and murder of little Zainab of Kasur city galvanised into a national with protests across the country after the seven-year-old, who went missing on January 4, was found dead in a dumpster in Kasur on January 9.

The public demand for immediate arrest of the culprit resulted in an unprecedented police and judicial inquiry in which a large pool of suspects was probed. The prime suspect, Imran Ali, was caught on January 23 after his DNA matched with that of samples taken from the crime scene.

He confessed to not only killing and raping Zainab but also seven other children. On February 17, he was later sentenced to death on four counts. The 24-year-old Imran Ali has been sentenced on four grounds — murdering a child, kidnapping a child, rape of a minor, and committing an unnatural act with a minor. Ali has also been sentenced for seven years with a fine of Rs1 million for desecrating the body of a minor.

A few days later the convict challenged his sentencing in the Lahore High Court claiming that he is innocent. His appeal against the sentence is still pending before the Lahore High Court.