Elon Musk says 'Bravo Pakistan!' after Lahore court upholds motorway gangrape death sentence

LAHORE: Elon Musk has drawn global attention after reacting to a Pakistani court’s decision to uphold the death sentences of two men convicted in the 2020 motorway gangrape case.

The interaction began on X when British Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe shared an update on the verdict, writing: “Some good news to come out of Pakistan”.

Responding directly to the post, X owner Elon Musk commented, “Bravo Pakistan! This is what we should be doing in the West”.

The exchange came after a two-member Lahore High Court division bench — Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa — dismissed the appeals of convicts Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga, maintaining the death penalties originally awarded by an anti-terrorism court.

The convicts had challenged their conviction, arguing that the prosecution’s case contained gaps and contradictions and that the evidence did not meet legal standards. They requested that the high court overturn the ruling.

However, the state prosecutor strongly opposed the appeals, maintaining that the evidence was consistent and conclusive, and that the trial court had reached its decision after a full review of the case record.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench upheld the original judgment. The anti-terrorism court had earlier sentenced both men to death, along with life imprisonment and additional prison terms, in March 2021.

The case dates back to September 9, 2020, when a woman of Pakistani origin living in France was travelling on the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway with her three children when her vehicle reportedly ran out of fuel.

According to the prosecution, the attackers assaulted her after forcing her out of the car. Investigators later used DNA evidence and forensic analysis to identify and convict the suspects.

The case remains one of the most widely followed criminal trials in recent years, and Musk’s public reaction has now pushed it back into international discussion.