LHC rejects convicts' appeals against sentences in 2020 motorway gang rape case

Lahore (Web Desk): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday upheld the convictions and sentences of two men found guilty in the high-profile 2020 Sialkot-Lahore Motorway gang rape case, dismissing their appeals against the trial court’s verdict.

The convicts, Abid Ali alias Malhi and Shafqat Ali alias Bagga, had been awarded death penalties, life imprisonment, and additional jail terms by an anti-terrorism court on March 20, 2021.

Both men challenged the ruling five days later, arguing that flaws in the prosecution's case created reasonable doubt and that the trial court's decision was excessively harsh.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa announced the verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.

During the proceedings, the state prosecutor maintained that the prosecution had presented strong and convincing evidence linking the accused to the crime and urged the court to uphold the sentences.

He argued that the trial court had committed no legal or procedural error in reaching its decision.

Defence counsel had earlier completed their arguments, insisting that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions.

The case triggered nationwide outrage in September 2020 after a woman of Pakistani origin holding French nationality was assaulted by the two men on the outskirts of Lahore.

The attackers dragged her from her vehicle after it ran out of fuel during a late-night journey on the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway and committed the crime in the presence of her three children.

Following the incident, Gujjarpura police registered a case on September 9, 2020, under multiple provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The case drew widespread condemnation across the country and prompted renewed debate on women's safety and law enforcement response to sexual violence.