LHC confirms death sentences in motorway gang rape case

— The Lahore High Court has rejected the petitions of convicts Abid Ali and Shafqat alias Bugga against the conviction of the trial court for awarding them death sentences in the high-profile motorway gang rape case. The court found that DNA, medical and forensic evidence showed their guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.

A two-member bench of Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa announced a thorough written judgement and said that the evidence of the survivor was believable, reliable and had substantial evidential value. The judgement said her account had been fully confirmed by medical, forensic and other scientific evidence.

The court observed that the DNA report vindicated Abid Ali’s involvement in the crime and the blood samples collected from the vehicle also matched his DNA profile. It also said the forensic evidence had substantially strengthened the prosecution case and the identification parade was correctly conducted for both the convicts.

“The convicts took the woman and her children away from the vehicle by force before committing the heinous offence,” the written judgement said. The crime not only traumatised the victim’s family, but also created fear and panic in the society. There were no mitigating factors for such a serious crime, the judge said.

The Lahore High Court further observed that the death awards given by the trial court were in complete tune with the nature and severity of the offence and there was no scope for judicial involvement. The court also dismissed the state’s petition for augmentation of sentence and confirmed the life imprisonment handed to the convicted on additional counts.