Girl gang-raped in Khurrianwala

Sister tells police victim was kidnapped at gunpoint, violated

KURIANWALA:

A girl was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped, police said.

The suspects threw their victim in a state of unconsciousness and escaped, they said. Some people had her shifted to a hospital. Sargodha Road Police started raids for arrests of suspects after registering a case.

According to the police report, the complainant, a sister of the victim, told the police that she had been at her father’s house with her sisters. The complainant alleged that the suspects arrived in their house. One of them had been armed.

The complainant told the police that when the suspects tried to kidnap her sister, the household members gathered round her in order to protect her.

She said that they backed off when the suspects pointed a gun at them and then the suspects kidnapped her sister.

The complainant said that the suspects allegedly gang-raped her and later they threw her on the Divide Road unconscious.

Sargodha Police started raids for the suspects after registering a case on the statement of the victim.

In the month of February this year, a private bus company guard had allegedly raped an 18-year-old hostess in a moving bus at gunpoint in Vehari. The victim girl had been shifted to the DHQ Hospital Vehari while police registered a case and arrested the accused.

Social organisations and women staged a protest against the incident.

The guard of a private bus traveling from Karachi to Lahore allegedly raped the 18-year-old bus hostess at gunpoint. The bus driver was reportedly also involved in the incident with the guard, identified as Shiraz.

The victim said that when the bus reached Rahim Yar Khan, the staff were changed and she was sent to Lahore on this bus. When the bus reached Melsi, all passengers disembarked and the empty bus left for Vehari. Shiraz then allegedly called her to the backseat and allegedly raped her at gunpoint. She informed Rescue 15 about the incident after reaching Vehari.

According to DSP Khalid Javed, Daniwal police station had registered a case after the victim’s medical examination and the accused was arrested.

When news of the tragic incident broke, a large number of citizens, including women, demonstrated outside the hospital to express solidarity with the victim. The protesters demanded that IG Punjab, RPO Multan and the DPO Isa Khan took immediate notice of the incident.

Sexual assaults on intercity transports are not uncommon, with a high-profile incident having occurred on the Bahauddin-Zakariya Express in May 2022.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2023.