College student survives rape attempt by van driver

Police arrest suspect, impound his vehicle

RAWALPINDI: A college student survived on Thursday an attempt made by her private van driver to rape her within the remits of the Morgah police station.

The suspect was later arrested by the police.

Morgah police said that the victim’s father, S*, filed a complaint that Bilawal had allegedly tried to rape his daughter, F*.

The first information report (FIR) said that F* is a first-year college student in Rawalpindi. When classes ended for the day on Thursday, F was the first to reach her private van and boarded it. Usually, the van waits until all the students have boarded before setting off. But on Thursday, the van driver started without waiting for the other students.

Perplexed, F asked the van driver, Bilawal, why he had started driving without any of the other students. Bilawal, however, did not respond to her queries and kept driving.

After a short while, the driver pulled the van to a desolate spot on a link road. As the van slowed down, F jumped into the back of the van in a bid to escape.

Bilawal, however, caught her and tried to force himself on her. F, however, resisted strongly and tried to scream to attract any passersby. Since the windows were closed owing to the cold, she could not be heard outside the van.

However, her resistance and screaming infuriated Bilawal who started beating F. Despite being showered with blows, F kept resisting and finally managed to flee.

Based on the complaint filed by S*, the Morgah police registered a complaint. In a subsequent raid, they managed to apprehend the suspect

Potohar SP Syed Ali said that the vehicle, in which the entire incident took place, has been impounded while the suspect, currently in police custody, is expected to be presented before a local court on Friday.

*NAMES HAVE BEEN WITHHELD TO PROTECT IDENTITY

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2020.