Two cops booked in gang-rape case

Two other incidents of rape, involving minors, also reported

LAHORE:

Three people, including two policemen, were arrested over allegedly being involved in the gang-rape of a woman in Chung on Thursday.

During the day, a suspect was arrested the attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl in Thokar Niaz Beg and three suspects for the gang-rape of a 12-year-old boy in Manawan.

In her complaint, the victims said that the suspect, her acquaintance Qari Hassan, called her to his dairy farm near LDA avenue and allegedly raped her.

The next day, he called her to LDA avenue again after blackmailing her, before he took her to a deserted place in LDA scheme where two police constables were present.

One of the constables allegedly raped the victim, while the other suspects kept on watching.

The police constables were identified as Ahmad Ali, a resident of Shamkay Bhattian and Arsalan, a resident of Phoolnagar Kasur.

SP Sadar Investigations Raza Tanveer said that a case was registered against the suspects and all three were arrested.

A medical examination of the victim was also conducted and CCPO Lahore Ghulam Mehmood Dogar had taken notice of the incident.

In another incident reported on Thursday, Manawan Police arrested three suspects over allegedly gang-raping a 12-year-old boy.

The arrested suspects, identified as Ansar, Khuram Shahzad and Abdullah, had reportedly lured the victim to a shop and raped him. A case was registered on the complaint of the victim’s uncle. Police arrested the suspects and further investigations into the matter were underway.

In another incident reported on the same day, a suspect was arrested for attempting to rape a 10-year-old girl in Hanjarwal.

The suspect, Saqib, had allegedly lured the victim and attempted rape. Police, after receiving the complaint, registered a case against him and were investigating the matter further.

Sexual violence, unfortunately, remains a common occurrence in Punjab. In April of this year, three men allegedly gang-raped a widow in Khurrianwala, after luring her to a secluded spot, under the pretext of offering her a job.

According to the case registered by the victim, it was stated that the accused, Emad and Samar Ali, came to her house and offered her a job as a maid in their relative's house. The victim agreed and left her house with the accused.

Instead of taking her to her new job, the accused took her to a house in Baowala, where an unknown suspect was already present.

They locked the door of the house and allegedly gang-raped the victim at gunpoint. According to the victim, they assaulted her one by one, hitting her with the butt of the pistol whenever she made noise. Upon the filing of the victim’s report, Jhang Bazar police registered a case against the two named and one unknown accused and started raids to arrest them.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2022.