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Two men convicted of robbing and gang-raping a woman in front of her kids have been sentenced to death, according to reports.
Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali were sentenced to death and life-imprisonment by a Pakistani court for the offences which took place in September last year.
The men dragged the victim and her children from their car after it had run out of petrol on a Lahore motorway.
She was then "gang-raped" before one of the men made off with 100,000 rupees (around £460), according to Dawn.com.
Ali and Malhi were convicted by a Lahore anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday under anti-terror legislation – and also fined 50,000 rupees (around £230) each.
The woman, who is French-Pakistani, identified the men and the prosecution presented 53 witnesses.
The police report said the accused, both in their 30s, were traced with the help of DNA samples preserved by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency.
Malhi, who was described as the prime suspect, said he spent the stolen cash while he was hiding from police.
The country had been angered by the crime – and a separate minor girl’s rape in Karachi. It prompted Prime Minister Imran Khan to call for rapists to be chemically castrated or publicly hanged.
The victim, a resident of Lahore’s Defence Housing Society, was stuck upon on the motorway with her two children at around 1am after her car ran out of petrol.
As she tried to arrange for help, two men approached her and took her and her children – both under the age of eight years old – into nearby fields at gunpoint. She was then attacked in front of her kids. By the time police arrived the attackers had fled, taking with them cash and valuables.
In November, President Dr Arif Alvi approved new anti-rape laws ensuring speedy trials of cases with women and children as victims and allowing for chemical castration of those convicted.
- Crime
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