LAHORE. A Pakistani court sentenced two men to death for the gang rape of a woman in front of her children last year along a highway in the eastern city of Lahore.
The verdict of the six-month trial of Abid Malhi and his accomplice Shafqat Ali was handed down inside the Lahore prison. Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta also sentenced the men to 14 years in prison, to be served before executions. Men are likely to appeal the sentence. According to the prosecutor and the police, Malhi and Ali found the woman waiting for help after her car ran out of fuel. The woman locked the car doors but the attackers broke a window and dragged her out where they raped her at gunpoint in front of her terrified children. The men also stole money, jewelry and credit cards before fleeing.
They were tracked down via cell phone data and were arrested a few days after the incident. The survivor identified the two men during the hearing and Ali confessed to the crime before a magistrate. The rape sparked widespread condemnation on social media and was closely followed by Pakistani television. Some activists have called for the perpetrators to be hanged in public. Human rights activists have urged the government to introduce harsh new sanctions for rapists.