An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday convicted Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali, prime accused and co-accused, in the motorway gang-rape case after charges were proved against them.
The court handed down death sentence to both the accused under Section 376 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court awarded life imprisonment to both accused under Section 365 A of PPC for kidnapping the victim and confiscating her property. Besides imposing Rs 200,000 fine each, the court also awarded 14 years imprisonment to both accused under Section 392 of PPC for robbery.
The court awarded five-year imprisonment to both accused under Section 440 of PPC for mischief, besides imposing Rs 50,000 fine. The accused were also ordered to pay Rs 100,000 each as compensation to the victim under Section 337-F1 and 337-L2 of the PPC for causing injury to the victim.
ATC Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta announced the verdict at Camp Jail in the presence of the accused, their counsel, Deputy Prosecutor General Hafiz Asghar and Deputy Prosecutor General Waqar Bhatti.
The court had reserved the verdict on March 18 after hearing detailed arguments of parties. The prosecutors argued that the accused gang-raped the victim woman at gunpoint and solid evidence was available against them. They argued that the accused were arrested after their DNA matched with the samples collected from the crime scene whereas the victim woman also identified them during identification parade held in the presence of a magistrate. They also submitted that co-accused Shafqat admitted the crime before a judicial magistrate. They pleaded with the court for handing down strict punishment to the accused as they committed a heinous crime.
However, the defence counsel opposed the plea, saying that the prosecution failed to prove presence of accused Shafqat on crime scene whereas the identification parade of Shafqat Ali was held after 22 days of his arrest. They submitted the statement of accused Shafqat was recorded after a delay of one month and eighteen days whereas he was forced to get recorded his statement. The defence also questioned the authenticity of the identification parade while raising various questions on the process adopted during it.
It is pertinent to mention here that the prosecution presented 37 witnesses, including the victim woman, during the trial.
The Gujjarpura police had filed a challan against the accused, wherein they were declared guilty. The police had requested the court for awarding strict punishment to the accused as sufficient evidence was available against them.
On September 9, 2020, Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali had raped a woman at gunpoint in the Lahore’s Gujjarpura area in the presence of her children after her car ran out of fuel and she was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway (M-11). The men stole Rs 100,000 worth of money, jewellery, and ATM cards before fleeing, the woman had told police at the time.
A first information report (FIR) of the incident – which had sparked protests across Pakistan over sexual violence against women and a lack of accountability – was lodged at the Gujjarpura police station under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken strict notice of the incident, and later okayed a law for the chemical castration of sexual abusers. The draft of the anti-rape ordinance includes increasing women’s role in policing, fast-tracking rape cases, and witness protection.
