• Surrounded by journalists and security forces, a prison van carrying Mohammad Imran, who is accused of the brutal killings of eight children in the eastern city of Kasur, arrives to a courthouse, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. The Pakistani court has given police two weeks to interrogate the suspect. Imran's arrest came two weeks after 7-year-old Zainab Ansari was assaulted and her body thrown in a garbage dump early this month. Photo: K.M. Chaudary, AP / Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Photo: K.M. Chaudary, AP
Image 1of/4

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 4
Surrounded by journalists and security forces, a prison van carrying Mohammad Imran, who is accused of the brutal killings of eight children in the eastern city of Kasur, arrives to a courthouse, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. The Pakistani court has given police two weeks to interrogate the suspect. Imran's arrest came two weeks after 7-year-old Zainab Ansari was assaulted and her body thrown in a garbage dump early this month. less
Surrounded by journalists and security forces, a prison van carrying Mohammad Imran, who is accused of the brutal killings of eight children in the eastern city of Kasur, arrives to a courthouse, in Lahore, ... more
Photo: K.M. Chaudary, AP
Image 2 of 4
In this Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 photo, Nusrat holds a photo of her daughter, Zainab Ansari, who was raped and killed, as her husband, Mohammed Amin in Kasur, sits beside her in Kasur, Pakistan. A provincial government official says they have arrested a man they suspect raped and killed 7 year-old Zainab, the child whose horrific death enraged a nation and lifted the silence that surrounds child sexual abuse in Pakistan. less
In this Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 photo, Nusrat holds a photo of her daughter, Zainab Ansari, who was raped and killed, as her husband, Mohammed Amin in Kasur, sits beside her in Kasur, Pakistan. A provincial ... more
Photo: B.K. Bangash, AP
Image 3 of 4
Surrounded by journalists and security forces, a prison van carrying Mohammad Imran, who is accused of the brutal killings of eight children in the eastern city of Kasur, arrives to a courthouse, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. The Pakistani court has given police two weeks to interrogate the suspect. Imran's arrest came two weeks after 7-year-old Zainab Ansari was assaulted and her body thrown in a garbage dump early this month. less
Surrounded by journalists and security forces, a prison van carrying Mohammad Imran, who is accused of the brutal killings of eight children in the eastern city of Kasur, arrives to a courthouse, in Lahore, ... more
Photo: K.M. Chaudary, AP
Image 4 of 4

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani officials said Thursday they are investigating whether a suspect arrested in the slaying of eight girls was linked to an international child-porn ring.

The latest development came days after the arrest of Mohammad Imran, 24, in connection with the rape and killing of 7-year-old Zainab Ansari in the city of Kasur.

Zainab was assaulted and her body thrown in a garbage dump there earlier this month, stirring outrage across Pakistan and bringing to light a string of other abductions and slayings by a suspected serial predator.

Her parents were on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia when she went missing.

On Tuesday, police officials said the suspect had confessed to the murders. A judge at the Lahore High Court granted the police another week for the investigation.

So far Imran, who will be tried before an anti-terrorism court, has not hired a lawyer to represent him. His trial, according to the Lahore court, is expected to last a week, with daily hearings.

Latest videos

Now Playing:
  • Now Playing
     UN: deadlock over use of chemical weapons in Syrian civil war Euronews
  • CIA Director: NKorea Closer to Nuclear Weapons Associated Press
  • Report: Ivanka Trump Part Of Effort To Potentially Replace John Kelly GeoBeats
  • Women's March Sets Its Sights On Ballot Box Associated Press
  • Trump Arrives at Pentagon Amid Budget Battles Associated Press
  • Catalan parliament holds first meeting, voting in separatist MP as speaker Euronews
  • Biden: We're Undergoing 'A Battle For The Soul Of The Nation' GeoBeats
  • Thousands evacuated as Philippine volcano nears eruption Euronews
  • Legendary Musician Eric Clapton Says He Is Going Deaf Wibbitz
  • James Franco Accused of Inappropriate Behavior By Five Women Entertainment Weekly
  • Is an Oprah Presidency a “Slayed or Shade”? Essence
  • House GOP Leaders Look Ahead to 2018 Agenda Associated Press
  • Did Steve Bannon ever matter? Mic
  • Nissan Brain-to-Vehicle technology redefines future of driving - Vehicle Prototype and Action Prediction Validation AutomotoTV
  • Executive order targets gun shows Fox5
  • Trump Mocks Kim Jong Un: My Nuclear Button is 'Much Bigger' Wibbitz
  • Teen Kills Family in New Year's Eve Shooting Time
  • Fire at Rooftop Mumbai Restaurant Leaves 15 Dead Associated Press
  • Boiling Water Turns to Snow in Record N.H. Cold Associated Press
  • Obama: Leaders Should Create A 'Common Space' On The Internet GeoBeats
globe

EMAIL NEWSLETTERS: Get breaking news and the day's top stories in your inbox

Pakistan's chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday demanded a report from the investigators after a local TV program alleged the suspect could be part of a gang that supplied porn videos of children to an international network.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal pledged to arrest all involved in the porn ring.

Zainab's father, Mohammed Amin Ansari, has demanded that his daughter's killer be publicly hanged.

However, Pakistani laws do not allow public hangings. Lawmakers in the upper house of parliament are divided over whether to reinstate public hangings.

There was only one instance in Pakistan's 70-year history when convicts were publicly hanged: in 1979, under former dictator Ziaul Haq, four men were executed for killing a boy after assaulting him.