Woman claims ex-husband, others raped her daughter

LAHORE: A woman* has approached a Lahore sessions court claiming that her ex-husband* had participated in the gang rape of their daughter*. She has petitioned the court to initiate an investigation into her claim.

The petition states that the alleged victim had called her to inform her that she had been raped by two men, one of whom was her father, and that when the mother approached the Sabzazar Police Station to lodge a complaint, she was rebuffed.

The woman submitted that her husband had expelled her from his house after she refused his demand to work as a prostitute.

She stated she is a poor woman and her husband is a drug addict who kept trying to force her to participate in the flesh trade, but she refused to do so. She added that he later began beating her to try and force her to agree, and when that failed, he divorced her and threw her out of their house. She said her husband did not allow their two daughters to go with her.



She submitted she could not look after her daughters due to poverty. She contended her former husband had also barred the girls from meeting their mother, and did not even allow them to go to school. She added that her ex-husband had confined the girls to a single room.

A few days back, one of her daughters called her and said that her father and his friend had raped her.

She submitted that she went to the Sabzazar SHO to lodge a complaint, but no action was taken. She prayed the court to direct the SHO to register an FIR against her former husband for raping her daughter. She also prayed the court to get her daughters released from the custody of their father.

She contended that the residents of the locality had previously implored her to take custody of her daughters if she cared about their future as their father would ruin their lives.

The judge has sought comments from the SHO.

* Names withheld to protect identities

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2017.