The court upholds the death sentences awarded to both convicted of the crime of rape by ATC in 2021
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday dismissed appeals filed by convicts Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga against their convictions and death sentences in the highway gang-rape case, upholding the sentence awarded by the trial court.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi delivered the reserved judgment on the appeals. The court upheld the death sentences for both convicted of the crime of rape.
An anti-terrorism court had sentenced Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga to death on March 20, 2021 after convicting them in the high-profile highway gang-rape case. On 9 September 2020, convicts Malhi and Shafqat raped a woman at gunpoint in Gujjarpura area while she was waiting for help on the highway after her car ran out of fuel.
The woman was traveling with her children when their car stalled in Gujjarpura when it ran out of fuel. She called her relative and sent him her location on the highway. When the relative reached the spot, he saw the woman panicked and blood stains on her clothes. The windows of her car were also broken.
The woman told police she was waiting for her relative to pick her and her children up when two gunmen attacked her. One of them hit the car with clubs and the other held them hostage at gunpoint.
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The attackers then took her and the children to a nearby forest area where they gang-raped the woman. Later, they robbed her of valuables, which included Rs 100,000 cash, two pieces of gold jewellery, a bracelet, a car registration card and three ATM cards, leaving her stranded.
The convicts later challenged the Anti-Terrorism Court’s verdict before the LHC on 25 March 2021, seeking to have their convictions and sentences overturned. After hearing the appeals, the LHC dismissed the petitions and upheld the death sentences passed by the trial court.
The horrific incident shook the collective conscience of the entire nation, sparked nationwide outrage and raised questions about the duplicity of a society where sheer savagery lurks behind the veil of piety and morality and nowhere seems safe anymore.
The shocking incident also sparked a debate on mainstream and social media about behavioral trends and the alarming rise in cases of sexual violence in the country, as well as the failure of the law enforcement mechanism to provide security to citizens as even a drive on a highway can prove dangerous.
