Elon Musk has praised Pakistan’s judicial system after Lahore High Court upheld death sentences in the 2020 motorway gang rape case involving a French Pakistani woman.
The discussion started on X, where British MP Rupert Lowe shared the news of the verdict, saying: “Some good news to come out of Pakistan.”
In response, X owner Elon Musk wrote: “Bravo Pakistan! This is what we should be doing in the West.”
The remarks came after a Lahore High Court division bench, comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Mehmood Bajwa, rejected the appeals of convicts Abid Malhi and Shafqat Bagga, maintaining their death sentences.
The convicts had challenged the ruling, arguing that the prosecution evidence contained gaps and inconsistencies. They sought reversal of the trial court’s decision.
After hearing both sides, the bench upheld the original verdict. Earlier, an anti-terrorism court had awarded them death sentences along with additional life imprisonment in March 2021.
The case relates to September 9, 2020, when a Pakistani-origin woman living in France was travelling on the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway with her children after her vehicle ran out of fuel.
According to investigators, she was attacked after being forced out of her car. DNA and forensic evidence later helped identify and convict the suspects.
The case remains one of Pakistan’s most high-profile criminal trials, and Musk’s reaction has brought it back into global focus.
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