Ali Sher, 21, was hanged for murder at the district...

Ali Sher, 21, was hanged for murder at the district prison in Timergarah, Pakistan. The convict was only 13 when he killed a minor girl in Swat, Mingorah district.
Sher had exhausted all legal options and his review petition had been dismissed by the Supreme Court about a fortnight previous to his hanging, which was the first-ever execution by hanging in the history of the Lower Dir district.
Sher's execution was a great set-back for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which had been pleading his case in front of the Supreme Court, and had been planning to constitute a 'jirga' to convince the family of the girl to forgive him.
However at around 6.30 am, executioner Sadiq Masih, pulled the board from underneath the convict, causing his death.
A large number of prisoners had gathered to witness the execution, guarded by a heavy contingent of district police. There were some moving scenes during the execution, as most of the prisoners felt sympathy for the young boy, who had been abandoned by his own family, including his father.
Ali Sher hailed from Khwazakhela, Swat, and was arrested in 1993 on a charge of killing a juvenile girl, the younger sister of his sister-in-law. Sher said he had become furious at being badly treated by his brother and sister-in-law, and killed the girl in revenge.
He was initially awarded the death sentence by the district and sessions judge of Mingorah. The HRCP filed an appeal on his behalf in the Peshawar High Court on the grounds that since he was a juvenile and was not mature enough to understand the gravity of his crime, he should not be awarded capital punishment. The appeal, however, was dismissed.
The HRCP then filed an appeal to the Supreme Court and argued that at the time of the occurrence of the crime in 1993, capital punishment had not been extended to provincially-administered tribal areas and thus Sher could not be condemned to death. However, the Supreme Court turned down the plea and, finally, rejected his review petition.
Sher's last hope lay with the President of Pakistan, but his mercy petition was turned down.
A human rights activist told Dawn that activists were surprised that the boy had been hanged in "such a hurry."
The activist said that had they been informed about the date of the execution, they would have made a last ditch attempt to convince his brother and sister-in-law to forgive him.