Pakistan sentences two men to death in motorway rape case

Judge also sentences them to 14 years’ imprisonment, which must be served before execution

An armoured vehicle enters Lahore district jail during the trial of two men in the case on March 20, 2021. EPA

A Pakistani court sentenced two men to death on Saturday for the gang rape of a woman in front of her children next to a motorway in the eastern city of Lahore last year, a prosecutor said.

Hafiz Asghar said the verdict in the closely watched six-month trial of Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali was issued inside the prison where it was held in Lahore.

Judge Arshad Bhutta also sentenced the men to 14 years’ imprisonment, time that must be served before their executions can take place.

Many death sentences in Pakistan are commuted to life imprisonment.

The prosecutor and police said Malhi and Ali found the woman waiting for help after her car ran out of fuel.

She had locked the vehicle’s doors but the attackers broke a window and dragged her outside, where they raped her at gunpoint in front of her children.

The men also stole money, jewellery and bank cards before fleeing.

They were tracked down through mobile phone data, Mr Asghar said, and arrested days after the incident.

DNA samples taken from the crime scene matched theirs. The woman identified the men during the hearing and Ali confessed to the crime before a magistrate.

The case drew widespread condemnation on social media, with some activists demanding those involved be hanged in public. It has been followed closely on Pakistani television.

Human rights activists have urged the government to introduce harsh new penalties for rapists. The case was handled by a counter-terrorism court for expediency.

Malhi and Ali did not hire lawyers, and their state-appointed lawyers were not available for comment after the verdict.

Reports of gang rape are rare in Pakistan, although sexual harassment and violence against women and girls are common.

About 1,000 women are killed in Pakistan each year for breaching conservative norms on love and marriage.