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Pakistan hanged a man convicted of raping and murdering six-year-old Zainab Ansari in January.
Imran Ali, who was arrested after his body was found in a landfill, was executed early Wednesday at Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore, police said.
Zainab's father and other members of the family were present.
The case, the most heinous of a series of murders of similar children committed in the city of Kasur, had provoked outrage and protests in the country.
After being sentenced to death for raping and murdering Zainab, Imran Ali was found guilty of similar crimes against six other girls.
Zainab's father, Amin Ansari, said after the execution that he was "satisfied".
"I saw his impressive end with my own eyes," he told reporters.
Copyright of the image
Police document
Imran Ali, 24, has been convicted of several rapes and murders
However, Ansari, who said that Zainab would have been seven years and two months if she was alive, lamented that the authorities had not televised the hanging.
Mr. Ansari's earlier appeal to Ali to face a public hanging was rejected by the Lahore High Court.
#JusticeforZainab
Zainab disappeared on January 4th and her body was found five days later in a landfill.
Police said that there had been several similar child murders over the past two years in Kasur, but that his assassination has turned out to be a critical point.
This triggered a public outcry, including protests denouncing the incompetence of the police. Two people were killed in clashes.
Zainab's family stated that the police had not taken any action within the five days that followed his report until his body was found. Members of his family, not the police, have retrieved CCTV footage of his latest moves.
The images, which show a girl led by a man, have been widely broadcast on social media. The hashtag #JusticeForZainab then went viral, with many Pakistanis calling for action.
On January 23, Imran Ali, 24, was arrested with a DNA match. He was sentenced to death in February for the rape and murder of Zainab.
His appeals against the verdict failed, and earlier this month, President Arif Alvi rejected a leniency application.
Will something change?
M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad
The hanging of the murderer of Zainab recalled memories of this horrible January episode that caused a shock wave across the country and triggered many demonstrations.
In the absence of such a public reaction and the fact that it was Zainab's family and not the police who had recovered the crucial film of CCTV that would ultimately lead to the arrest of his killer, few people expected the police to seriously investigate the case.
This is explained by the fact that child abuse attracts little attention in Pakistan, even if it remains a recurring phenomenon.
Statistics compiled by a child rights NGO, Sahil, show that as many as 2,300 cases of crimes against children were reported in the first six months of the current year alone. In 57 of these cases, children were killed after being raped.
The case of Zainab is unique in that it has triggered a public debate on the issue. The government of the day, under pressure from public opinion, promised tough measures in police training and legislation.
But now that Zainab's executioner is at the helm, we remember the sad fact that nothing had been done after these initial declarations of intent.
