LAHORE: The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal  of a man who was sentenced to death  for the rape and murder of minor girl Zainab in Kasur.

The convict  Imran Ali's appeal was turned down and the death sentence given to him by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) was upheld by a three-judge bench consisting of Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Manzoor Ahmed Malik and Mansoor Ali Shah on Tuesday.

Zainab, 7, had been abducted on January 4 near her aunt’s house in her hometown of Kasur. Five days later her body was found chucked out in a garbage load.

Imran Ali was declared the killer of Zainab  on January 23 through a DNA match conducted by authorities.

Later on February 17, the convict was sentenced to death four times during a hearing by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) following which Imran had professed to be not guilty in front of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and called for the judgment to be declared revoked.