Pakistan court condemns 2 men to death in highway rape case

A Pakistani courtroom sentenced two males to loss of life on Saturday (Mar 20) for the gang rape of a female before her children last year alongside a motorway in the eastern metropolis of Lahore, a prosecutor said.

Hafiz Asghar said the verdict found in the closely watched, six-month trial of Abid Malhi and his accomplice Shafqat Ali was first issued inside prison where it was held in Lahore. Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta as well sentenced the guys to 14 years imprisonment, time that must be dished up before any executions can take place, he added. Appeals or commutations are likely.

Based on the prosecutor and law enforcement, Malhi and Ali determined the girl waiting for support after her car ran out of gas. She possessed locked the car doors however the attackers broke a windowpane and dragged her outside where they raped her at gunpoint in front of her terrified kids. The men likewise stole money, jewelry, and bank cards before fleeing.

They were tracked straight down via mobile phone info, Asghar added, and arrested days and nights after the incident. DNA samples taken from the crime picture matched thiers. The survivor identified the two men through the hearing, and Ali confessed to the crime before a magistrate.

"The survivor had discovered the convicts twice during the identification parade in jail even though recording her statement before the judge," another prosecutor, Waqar Bhatti, said.

The crime had drawn widespread condemnation on social media, with some activists demanding that those involved be hanged in public areas, and has been closely followed on Pakistani television. Human rights activists have urged the government to present harsh fresh penalties for rapists. The case was dealt with by an anti-terrorism court for expediency.

Rights campaigners also known as for an end to a culture that they say regularly blames victims of sexual assault. Following the rape in September, one senior law enforcement official publicly questioned why the girl have been driving alone at night with her children.

Malhi and Ali didn't hire attorneys, and their state-appointed attorneys were not available for comment following a verdict.

In December, Pakistan introduced a fresh rape law, creating create unique courts in a bid to speed up prosecutions and setting up a nationwide sex offender registry.

Gang rape is unusual found in Pakistan, although sexual harassment and violence against girls isn't uncommon. Nearly 1,000 women happen to be killed in Pakistan each year in so-referred to as “honor killings” for allegedly violating conservative norms on love and marriage.

Fewer than 3 % of sexual assault or rape cases bring about a conviction found in Pakistan, in line with the Karachi-based group War Against Rape.