Despite numerous appeals by international human rights groups to delay the execution, Shafqat Hussain was hanged before dawn on Tuesday. Hussain, 24, was only a minor when he was convicted of killing a boy in 2004. Hussain was allegedly tortured to confess this crime, according to CNN.
Police said they firmly believe that Hussain was 23 when convicted more than a decade ago, "instead seizing and refusing to release key evidence such as Shafqat's school record, which could have provided proof that he was under 18 when he was sentenced to death," the group Justice Project Pakistan said, The Guardian reported.
Maya Foa of Reprieve, an organization which helps people suffering from human rights violations, stated: "Shafqat's execution speaks to all that is wrong with Pakistan's race to the gallows. He faced a catalogue of injustice, sentenced to death while still a child after being tortured by the police until he produced a so-called confession."
Other organizations were able to put off Hussain's the execution four times this year. Despite all efforts to delay the execution and lobbying, Pakistan still served what they deem as the correct form of justice.
Most people in Pakistan express support for capital punishment. They justify their actions by abiding the Islamic principle "an eye for an eye", BBC reported. Most Pakistanis believe that justice has been served.
In Pakistan, Western groups that tried to save Hussain were said to have looked like they were picking a single person - a cause - to be saved from thousands of people in line for capital punishment. Judges and officials remained firm with their decision to hang Hussain.
Since the Taliban militants attacked a school and killed 130 teenagers in December, Pakistan has lifted the death penalty moratorium. Over 190 people have been hanged since then, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The European Union is concerned regarding the "alarming pace" of the executions happening, The Guardian added.
