On Saturday Lahore anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced the two main accused in the Lahore Motorway gangrape case. The verdict having the name Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali were sentenced to death and life imprisonment.
ATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhatta announced the verdict at Lahore’s Camp Jail. At that place, the two accused have been imprisoned. The judgment was announced in the presence of the accused and prosecution team. The accused were also fined Rs 50,000 each.
The anti-terrorism court had concluded trial proceedings in the case on Thursday. After the defense completed its arguments. The accused had sexually assaulted a Pakistan-origin French woman in front of her children last year. While her car had developed a fault on the highway.
Gujjarpura police had lodged the FIR No 1369/20 under sections 376, 392, and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
The prosecution presented 53 witnesses, including the survivor. The complainant of the FIR, and the person who reported the incident on the police emergency helpline.
The rape survivor recorded her statement and also identified suspects Malhi and Ali. They confessed to having committed the crime in police custody. But later during the trial denied the charges.
Prime suspect, Malhi had also snatched over Rs100,000 cash from the woman. Afterwhich he claimed to have spent during the period he was hiding from the police. The police report said the accused were traced with the help of a record of their DNA samples. These DNA samples of Lahore Motorway gang rape were preserved by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency.
I am a freelance writer studied Biochemistry at the University of Agriculture Peshawar in the faculty of Nutrition sciences.