Lahore court grants four-day remand of suspended ASI in alleged rape case at police station

Suspect was produced before Judicial Magistrate Iram Yousaf at the magisterial court by Ghaziabad police

A judicial magistrate on Wednesday granted a four-day physical remand of a suspended assistant sub-inspector (ASI) to the police, in connection with the alleged rape of a mentally challenged woman inside a Lahore police station.

A day earlier, the Lahore police suspended the entire staff of Ghaziabad Police Station over administrative lapses and poor supervision after an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) was arrested for allegedly raping a mentally challenged woman on the premises.

Suspended ASI Imran was produced before Judicial Magistrate Iram Yousaf at the magisterial court by the Ghaziabad police. During the hearing, the investigating officer requested the court to grant a 14-day physical remand, arguing that the suspect's custody was required to further investigate the case and ascertain details regarding the alleged sexual assault.

After hearing the prosecution's arguments, the court partially accepted the request and handed over the suspended ASI to the police on a four-day physical remand for further investigation.

The case

On August 3, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Ghaziabad Police Station under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and 155C (penalty for certain types of misconduct by police officers) of the Police Order 2002 against the ASI on the complaint of the victim’s father.

Read More: Lahore police station rape: 78 cops' heads roll

On the same day, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Investigation Syed Zeeshan Raza took notice of the incident and ordered the arrest of the suspect. A day later, 78 police station staffers were suspended by DIG (Operations) Faisal Kamran for “poor supervision and negligence”.

The complainant, who is the father of an allegedly raped teen, said that his approximately 19–20-year-old mentally challenged daughter left the house on Sunday around 1pm. "When she did not return for a considerable time, Faisal Yousaf, son of Muhammad Yousaf, informed us that a policeman, who was in plain clothes, had taken our daughter away.”

He said he immediately went to the police station, but upon reaching there he was informed that the girl had already returned home.

“We all returned home, where my daughter was crying. I asked her the reason, and she told me that a policeman... had taken her [to the police station] and forcibly raped her,” he said.

The complainant requested legal action against the suspect, followed by the suspect's arrest and suspension.