LAHORE – In a historic decision, an anti-terrorism court has sentenced two men, Abid Ali and Shafqat Ali, to death for raping a woman in front of her children on a major highway between two Punjab cities.
Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta of Lahore ATC reached the Camp Jail in the provincial capital to announce the verdict on the Motorway rape incident. The verdict came six and a half months after the crime took place.
Both accused were handed death sentence under Article 376 and life imprisonment under 365 A of the Pakistan Penal Code. They were also sentenced to 14 years in prison separately. The court also fined Rs50, 000 each and directed to confiscate the properties of both.
It is for the first time that convicts in a gang-rape case have been condemned to death in Saturday’s landmark decision.
The police submitted challan in the case on February 20 and the accused were indicted on March 3. The court held seven hearings and reserved a verdict on March 18 (Thursday).
A total of 37 witnesses were present before the court and testified against the two accused. Police inducted the accused with charges 365-A, 391, 427, 337, and 7-ATA.
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The DNA samples of both accused had also matched with the samples and the victim had also identified both in a police identity parade at Camp Jail Lahore.
The prime suspect Abid Malhi was arrested in Faisalabad a month after being on the run. His accomplice, Shafqat, had surrendered later.
The gruesome incident occurred on September 9, the woman along with her children was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after her vehicle ran out of fuel later she was forcefully brought out of the car at gunpoint and sexually assaulted in the Gujjarpura area on the outskirts of the provincial.
The sexual assault had shocked the whole nation which demands the arrest and severe punishment for the culprits.
The event was the top trend on social site Twitter, the next day of the incident because the victim-blaming remarks made by the former Lahore CCPO Umar Shaikh sparked an outrage. Later on September 12, a large number of protesters staged a protest against the victim-blaming remarks of Umar Shaikh.
