A high court in Pakistan upheld the death sentence given to two convicts who raped a French woman of Pakistani origin in 2020. The case, which came to be known as the motorway gang rape case, sent shockwaves across the country and raised questions on women’s safety in Pakistan
The two convicts, Abid Ali alias Malhi and Shafqat Ali alias Bagga, were handed down death sentences, along with besides life imprisonment and multiple jail terms by an anti-terrorism court on March 20, 2021. However, the two men challenged their convictions in court five days later.
“The Lahore High Court (LHC) today dismissed appeals of the two men convicted in infamous rape case of the French woman of Pakistani-origin in 2020 in Lahore and upheld the trial court’s verdict of awarding them death sentences,” a court official said, as reported by PTI.
A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court, comprising of Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa issued the verdict on Wednesday, June 3, after both the prosecution and the defence concluded their arguments regarding the convicts’ plea.
The appeal claimed that several infirmities in the case created doubt in regards to the prosecution’s version of events and deemed the trial court’s judgement too harsh and against the settled principles of law. The prosecution, on the other hand, demonstrated overwhelming evidence against the convicts in their bid to uphold their sentences.
The prosecution upheld the anti-terrorism court’s verdict in this matter and began their final arguments after the defence lawyers had rested their case.
The 2020 motorway gang rape case
Details emerged in September 2020 of a horrific gang rape case involving a 32-year-old woman, travelling with her three children, who were stranded on the Sialkot-Lahore motorway near Lahore when their car ran out of fuel. Two armed men broke into the vehicle and robbed her before dragging her to an empty field nearby, where the duo raped her at gunpoint in front of her children.
A first-information report (FIR) was filed in the matter by the Gujjarpura Police on September 9, 2020 under multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti Terrorism Act, 1947.
The gang rape case triggered massive outrage and public demonstrations demanding swift justice. The movement also criticised the then Punjab Police chief for remarks which shifted some part of the blame for the incident to the survivor.