A Pakistani appellate court has upheld the death sentences of two men who assaulted a stranded French tourist alongside a major motorway, bringing legal closure to a case that triggered nationwide protests over victim-blaming and systemic failures.
Two judges dismissed the final appeals of Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali on Wednesday. The men were originally convicted of terrorism, kidnapping, robbery and gang rape by an anti-terrorism court in March 2021, according to the English-language publicationDawn.
The incident unfolded on 9 September 2020, when a mother and her three children ran out of fuel while driving out of Lahore.
Stranded in the dark, she parked alongside the Sialkot–Lahore Motorway and locked the doors to wait for emergency assistance. Malhi and Ali approached the isolated car and shattered a window.
They pulled the woman out of the vehicle and into the surrounding area. The attackers then raped her at gunpoint while her young children were forced to witness the assault.
Before fleeing the scene, the assailants robbed the family, taking personal items including her bank cards, jewellery and cash.
Police launched a manhunt immediately after the attack. Even though she was traumatised, the victim was able to give officers a basic physical description of the men as they fled.
Detectives then tracked the attackers by analysing mobile phone location data from the surrounding area. On that basis, police arrested them within days.
Forensic teams also recovered DNA samples from the scene. These biological markers were a match for both suspects, giving prosecutors a strong evidential foundation.
The survivor later identified her attackers during a preliminary court hearing. Faced with extensive physical evidence, Ali submitted a formal written confession to a local magistrate.
Source: International Business Times UK
