Motorway gang-rape convicts appeal against ATC verdict adjourned

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday adjourned the plea of Abid Hussain Malhi and Shafqat Bagga against their conviction in the motorway gang-rape case, ARY News reported.

On September 9, 2020, the woman along with her children was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after her car ran out of fuel when she was forcefully brought out of the car at gunpoint and gang-raped in Gujjarpura area on the outskirts of the provincial.

Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga through their appeals challenged an anti-terrorism court’s (ATC) March 20, 2021, verdict that handed them a death sentence, life imprisonment and fines.

The plea was taken up by Justice Shehram Sarwar and Justice Ali Zia Bajwa. The hearing on the plea was adjourned for 10 days on the request of the deputy prosecutor general in the case.

Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga in their plea requested the high court to set aside the ATC verdict and order their release.

The anti-terrorism court had sentenced Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali to death over their involvement in the motorway gang rape case. The convicts are currently kept in Kot Lakhpat Jail of Lahore for the execution of their sentence.

The verdict was announced by the ATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta.

Besides announcing the death sentence for both the convicts, the judge had also sentenced them to life imprisonment for 14 years each and imposed a Rs50,000 fine on each of them in separate cases.