A Pakistani court has upheld the death sentences for two men convicted of raping a French woman in front of her children on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway in September 2020. Abid Ali and Shafqat Ali were accused of assaulting the 32-year-old tourist after her car ran out of fuel, leaving her stranded on the highway after midnight. The men dragged her and her children to a nearby field.
The Lahore High Court, through Justices Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Tariq Mehmood Bajwa, dismissed the appeals of the two men, confirming the death sentences initially handed down by a trial court in March 2021.
The incident sparked widespread outrage across Pakistan, further inflamed by a senior police official who controversially blamed the victim for driving alone at night without male protection. In response to the public outcry, Pakistan enacted a new anti-rape law establishing special courts to speed up trials and allowing for the chemical castration of serial rapists, though activists questioned its deterrent effect.
