Horror as woman dragged out of family car, held at gunpoint and gang-raped

A woman was pulled from her car and raped at gunpoint in front of her terrified children – and her attackers will be put to death. The pair were convicted of gang-rape, kidnapping, robbery and terrorism, and their sentence has been upheld, meaning they are due to be hanged.

Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali carried out the horrific crime when the victim, a French woman, became stranded on a motorway after running out of fuel.

The Sun reports that the woman was French-Pakistani, and lived in France with her family.

After a court hearing in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2021, Malhi and Ali were handed the death sentence.

The court heard that the pair carried out the attack on September 9, 2020, near Lahore. After her car broke down the woman stayed inside the vehicle with her three children, locking the windows and waiting for help.

However, the attackers appeared and smashed the window, dragging her out of her car before raping her at gunpoint. They then stole bank cards, cash and jewellery before fleeing.

The brave victim gave a description to police and when the men were tracked down it was discovered they matched DNA left at the crime scene.

Dawn.com reports that at the time, Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke out against the crime, saying that strict action should be taken against the attackers.

The death penalty remains legal in Pakistan and is carried out by hanging. There have been amendments to the country’s constitution but while a moratorium was in place in 2008, this was lifted in 2014. A total of seven executions were carried out in 2014, followed by 326 in 2015 and 87 in 2016.