A Pakistani court has upheld the death sentences of two men convicted of raping a French woman in front of her children on a motorway in 2020. The Lahore High Court dismissed the appeals of Abid Ali and Shadqat Ali on Wednesday, confirming the trial court's verdict from March 2021.
The attack occurred in September 2020 on the busy Lahore-Sialkot motorway. The 32-year-old victim's car had run out of fuel after midnight, and while she was calling for help, the two men stopped, broke the car windows, dragged her and her children to a nearby field, and sexually assaulted her.
Justices Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Tariq Mehmood Bajwa rejected the appeals, with a court official stating: 'The Lahore High Court today dismissed the appeals of the two men convicted in the infamous rape case of the French woman of Pakistani origin in 2020 in Lahore and upheld the trial court's verdict of awarding them death sentences.'
The case sparked widespread outrage in Pakistan and led to calls for stronger anti-rape legislation. Public anger intensified after a senior police official criticised the victim for driving alone at night 'without the protection of a man'. Lahore's police chief said that nobody in Pakistan would 'allow their sisters and daughters to travel alone so late' and that the French woman probably 'mistook Pakistani society to be just as safe' as her country.
In response, Pakistan introduced a new anti-rape law establishing special courts to expedite trials and allowing for the chemical castration of serial rapists. The measure, backed by then Prime Minister Imran Khan, involves using drugs to reduce libido, though activists questioned its deterrent effect.
