Four Pakistani convicts were saved from the gallows...

Four Pakistani convicts were saved from the gallows after they agreed to pay eight million rupees in compensation and eight girls of their families as "compensation" to the aggrieved party.The convicts given a death sentence in a double murder by the district and sessions judge, Mianwali, 300 kilometres south of Islamabad, in 1988 managed to save themselves by an out of the court settlement.After the rejection of their appeal by the superior court and the president, the convicts approached the local leaders in the area who yielded considerable influence.The aggrieved party demanded 12 million rupees in compensation and 20 young girls as per the local custom called 'vani' but as a result of mediation by influential leaders, the demand was brought down to eight million rupees and eight girls, 'The News' daily said.The deal was struck in the presence of a "gathering of religious scholars, notables, politicians and general public", it said.The report said an 18-year girl among the eight offered in compensation by the convict, is to marry an octogenarian. In Pakistan convicts can have charges dropped against them if they win pardon from the aggrieved parties in out of court settlements.