Pakistani Serial Killer Wanted to Teach Gays a Lesson

(Lahore, Pakistan)

Short in stature and softly spoken, Pakistani paramedic Muhammed Ejaz was probably destined for a life of relative anonymity -- until he began killing gay men he met online.

The 28-year-old father-of-two was arrested last week and confessed to three brutal murders, saying he wanted to send out a message about the "evils" of homosexuality, though police insist he had sex with his victims first.

The killings have sent shockwaves through the underground gay community of the eastern city of Lahore, which fears Ejaz could be lionised as a hero in a conservative Islamic society where homosexuality is stigmatised and sodomy is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

In an interview with AFP from his prison cell Sunday night, Ejaz, who sported a neat trimmed beard and was kept shackled, expressed remorse over the killings but said he was acting to stop wrongdoing.

Ejaz told investigators that he was the victim of sexual abuse by an older boy when he was around 10 years old and had led a deeply unhappy childhood.