An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore has awarded death sentence to the two accused, Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali, in the motorway rape case that shook the country last year.
The convicts were also given a life imprisonment sentence besides a fine of Rs50,000 each by Judge Arshad Hussain Bhatt. The verdict was announced in the presence of the local magistrate, police officials, the defendant, and the culprits.
According to a local media outlet, the convict will now be transferred to the Kot Lakhpat Jail where the sentences will be carried out.
At least 50 witnesses recorded statement in the case before the special court which took at least six months to wrap it up.
Rape Case:
In Sept last year, the survivor left her home with her two children in Lahore and was driving when her car ran out of fuel around 1:30am. She called a relative and a helpline for the highway police, but before they arrived, two men approached, broke the car’s windows, and dragged the woman and her children to a field beside the highway, where she was gang raped.
The case sparked an outcry across Pakistan, with people coming out in solidarity with the survivor. They had also called for the arrest of the culprits and stringent anti-rape law. Subsequently, in a statement on Twitter, the prime minister had said that he was following the case closely and asked investigators for the “arrest and sentencing of those involved in the incident as soon as possible”.
