Motorway gang-rape suspects profess innocence as court frames charges

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) indicted on Wednesday two suspects in a case pertaining to the gang-rape of a woman on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway.

Suspects Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bhagga were presented before the court as Judge Arshad Hussain Bhatta resumed hearing. The court ordered the prosecution to provide a copy of the charge-sheet to their lawyers for perusal.

The suspects pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges. The court, therefore, summoned prosecution witnesses to record their testimonies at next hearing.

On September 9, a woman along with her children was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after her car ran out of fuel when she was forcefully brought out of the car at gunpoint and gang-raped iarea on the outskirts of the provincial capital.