Motorway gang-rape: LHC re-issues notice to complainant on appeals by convicts

LAHORE (APP): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday re-issued notices to the complainant on the appeals of the convicts in the motorway gang-rape case. A division bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi heard the appeals filed by convicts, Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali.
A deputy prosecutor general said that the court had summoned the complainant but the police could not serve the notices to him. He submitted that the notices could not be served due to unavailability of the complainant on the given address.
At this, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi directed to ensure the service of the notices till the next date of hearing.
The convicts had impleaded state and complainant of case while filing their appeals under Section 25 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. They had submitted that the trial court handed down sentence against the case facts and law.
The appellants submitted that they were not nominated in the first information report (FIR) and the description in the report was altogether different from their physical features and age, they added.
It is pertinent to mention here that an anti-terrorism court had on March 20,2021 handed down death sentence, life imprisonment, and 14 years imprisonment to the convicts on proving charges of rape, robbery, mischief and kidnapping.
On September 9, 2020, the convicts – Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali, allegedly raped a woman at gunpoint in Gujjarpura area while she was waiting for help on the motorway after her car ran out of fuel.
An FIR of the incident was lodged with the Gujjarpura police under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.