BAHAWALPUR: Lodhran Anti-Terrorism Court No 1 judge Khalid Mehmood Malik handed down death sentence four times as well as a fine of Rs2 million to a man for rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

The convict had raped and killed the girl in a locality of Dunyapur last month and thrown her body into a pond from where police had recovered it. Dunyapur City police had registered a case and after investigation managed to arrest the culprit.

Police had produced the culprit in court a week ago after submission of the investigation report. The court’s proceedings went on throughout the day on Monday and the judge announced that he would give the verdict later in the day.

This was for the first time that a court carried out a speedy trial in one day and after recording statements of 18 witnesses, announced the decision in the evening.