- A Pakistani court has upheld the death sentences for two men convicted of raping a French woman in front of her children on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway in September 2020.
- Abid Ali and Shadqat Ali were accused of assaulting the 32-year-old tourist after her car ran out of fuel, leaving her stranded on the highway after midnight, dragging her and her children to a nearby field.
- The Lahore High Court, through Justices Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Tariq Mehmood Bajwa, dismissed the appeals of the two men, confirming the death sentences initially handed down by a trial court in March 2021.
- The incident sparked widespread outrage across Pakistan, further inflamed by a senior police official who controversially blamed the victim for driving alone at night without male protection.
- In response to the public outcry, Pakistan enacted a new anti-rape law establishing special courts to speed up trials and allowing for the chemical castration of serial rapists, though activists questioned its deterrent effect.
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