Pakistan Is Tougher On Rapists Than Their Victim’s Western Country
Article excerpt
A Pakistani court sentenced two men to death for the 2020 rape of a French woman, a punishment starkly harsher than what France itself would impose, the country abolished capital punishment in 1978. The case highlights a stark contrast: Pakistan's judicial system delivered an outcome more severe than Western nations typically allow, even as the victim's home country has long rejected executions as a matter of law and principle.
A court ruled that two Pakistani men are now facing the death penalty following an assault on a woman visiting from France on September 9, 2020, a decision far harsher than would be made in the Western country the French-Pakistani woman now resides in.
Although France abolished capital punishment 45 years ago, judges in Pakistan determined the verdict regardless of where the woman was from. The country is one of the harshest users of the death penalty across the world, as it has over 33 crimes punishable by execution, according to Justice Project Pakistan.
Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali were convicted on gang rape, kidnapping, robbery, and terrorism charges in March 2021 after raping the woman at gunpoint in front of her three children on the popular Sialkot-Lahore highway after they ran out of gas and she was pulled out of her vehicle.
The dual-nationality woman, who remains unnamed to this day, was able to describe the two men after she was assaulted. The men also stole money, jewelry, and bank cards. Ali was arrested and identified just days later in September 2020, while Malhi was caught a month later. Both men’s DNA matched that at the crime scene.
Uproar across social media led to the case drawing national attention in Pakistan, and some activists demanded that the two men be executed. The case remained popular on social media after a policeman questioned why the family was not on a busier road that late at night, implying she was partly to blame.
The statements from the officer caused protests across the country. Overwhelming protests and social media outrage contributed to the death penalty remaining as the judgment, earning the nod from Elon Musk as well.
“Bravo Pakistan! This is what we should be doing in the West,” Musk posted on X.
Malhi and Ali appealed the death penalty ruling in 2021; however, their appeal was denied Wednesday. The men are set to be hanged, pending a possible Supreme Court appeal, which, even if unsuccessful, would likely push the execution back several years. The average time spent on death row in Pakistan is about 11 years, according to a Yale Law School report.