Islamabad court grants bail to suspect in 'gunpoint rape' case

The bail plea was approved after the victim and her husband told the court that the matter had been 'settled'

ISLAMABAD: A sessions court in Islamabad approved on Monday the bail application of a rape suspect after he reached a 'compromise' with the victim.

AZ* had allegedly raped a woman at gunpoint after breaking into her house in Sharifabad near Koral on February 13.

The victim's husband had told the police that he was invited over for tea by his work acquaintance AZ on February 13. The tea, the man said, was spiked and made him dizzy. Later that night, AZ and another unidentified man broke into their house and the suspect committed the assault.



The court approved bail after the victim and her husband told the court that they had settled the matter.

After the assault, the suspect's family member reportedly approached the victim's family to "express their sympathies." They promised to take action against the suspect and requested the victim's family not to report the crime to the police.

However, their assurance appeared to be a tactic to buy time as they apparently backtracked and even threatened the complainant a few days after the meeting. Subsequently, the family reported the incident to the police on February 18.



Police then registered a rape case against the suspect but before he could be arrested, he filed a bail application in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand.

* Names withheld to protect identity