French woman’s handbag stolen in Islamabad Super Market

Police yet to identify man who stole woman’s bag with nearby cameras unable to track number plate

ISLAMABAD: Police are searching for a taxi driver who allegedly stole a handbag of a French woman containing valuables from the Super Market area three days ago.

Laurian Houbin told the Kohsar police that she had been asked be her friend to retrieve a bag which hshe had forgotten under a bench outside a fast food joint in the Super Market area in early hours of Saturday morning on July 1.



Houbin, who the police said was a French national, said that when she reached the spot, the bag was nowhere to be found. Soon afterwards, her friend reached the spot too.

Unable to find the bag, they asked a nearby watchman and employees of the fast food restaurant. The employees of the restaurant said that they only saw a taxi go by which usually stays near the restaurant the entire night in the search of some late fares.

Further, they told Houbin that the taxi driver lives in the Christian Colony and that number plate of his car is 7579. On the day, they added, he had left at around 3:30am

The bag, Houbin told police, contained her laptop, camera, mobile phone and cash.

While the police have registered a case of theft against the unidentified man, they have yet to identify the suspect.

Meanwhile, a police official told The Express Tribune that security cameras from a nearby shop had recorded a man rushing away while carrying the bag described by the woman. Moreover, it showed the man jump into a black and yellow cab.  He, however, said that the footage was not very clear and they could not distinguish the taxi’s number plate or identify the suspect. He added that the incident took place around 3am on July 1.

Moreover, police officer disputed the account of the woman somewhat, stating that she had forgotten her bag on the bench and that it was possibly unattended when it was stolen.



This is the second such incident of a foreigner woman facing street crime in the upscale area of the capital in recent months.

Earlier on April 25, a Canadian senator of Pakistani origin was also mugged in the same Super Market area by two men riding on a motorbike.

The police, however, were able to track down and arrest the suspects within two days and recover valuables of Senator Salma Attaullahjan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2017.