LHC seeks prosecution arguments on appeals in motorway rape case
The Lahore High Court has sought prosecution arguments on appeals filed by two convicts against their death sentences in the motorway rape case. The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday after defence counsel concluded submissions.
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday asked the prosecution to present its arguments on appeals filed by two convicts against their death sentences in the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway gang rape case.
A division bench comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa heard the matter. Defence counsel completed their arguments, after which the prosecutor sought time to respond. The bench accepted the request and adjourned the hearing until Wednesday.
The appeals were filed from jail by convicts Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga, challenging the death penalties handed down to them. An anti-terrorism court had sentenced both men on March 20, 2021, awarding them death sentences along with life imprisonment and multiple other jail terms.
According to the case record, Gujjarpura police registered the first information report on Sept 9, 2020 under sections 365-A, 392, 376(ii), 427, 201, 34, 337-L2 and 337-F1 of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The case relates to the assault on a Pakistan-origin French woman in front of her three minor children after she was pulled from her car when it stopped late at night on the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway after running out of fuel.
Police had said they recovered a pistol and a club allegedly used in the offence from the convicts, along with their mobile phones, and traced them through DNA samples that matched blood stains collected from the crime scene.
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