LAHORE — The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued a comprehensive detailed judgment confirming the death sentences awarded to convicts Abid Ali alias Malhi and Shafqat Ali alias Bagga in the high-profile 2020 Lahore-Sialkot Motorway gang-rape case. A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa had previously dismissed the convicts’ criminal appeals through a short order on June 3, 2026. In the detailed verdict, the bench ruled that the prosecution had seamlessly established the charges beyond any reasonable doubt, relying on an unassailable combination of ocular, medical, and DNA forensic evidence linking the individuals to the horrific crime.
The case stems from the September 2020 incident where a Pakistani-origin French woman was stranded with her children after her vehicle ran out of fuel. The convicts broke into the vehicle, dragged her into nearby bushes, and subjected her to gang rape and robbery. Confirming the anti-terrorism court’s March 2021 capital convictions under Section 376(ii) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the LHC bench observed that the victim’s testimony was entirely trustworthy, consistent, and heavily corroborated by independent scientific analysis. The court rejected the defense’s arguments regarding minor discrepancies, noting that the convicts exhibited a total disregard for human dignity. The bench stated that any undue leniency would diminish the deterrent effect of the law and erode public safety confidence on national highways. Concurrently, the bench rejected the state’s appeal to enhance the separate life imprisonment sentences under Section 365-A (kidnapping for ransom) to capital punishment, ruling that the trial court’s original sentencing discretion was judicious.
