Gang rape: Assaulted by former husband, his friends

Victim’s father says suspects have threatened to kill him.

BAHALWALPUR: A woman was kidnapped and gang raped in Bahawalpur on Saturday night allegedly by her former husband and his friends.

Baghdad police sub inspector Muhammad Iqbal told The Express Tribune that an FIR had been registered against Basharat*, victim’s former husband, and his two friends on a complaint filed by her father, Manzoor Ahmed*. SI Iqbal said Section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code (sexual assault) had been added to the FIR on the basis of a medical examination report. He said no one had been arrested yet.

Ahmed, a resident of Noorwala, said the family was getting threats from Basharat. “He called me today and threatened that all of us will be killed if I try to prosecute him,” he said. He said he had informed the police about the threat.

Saima was kidnapped on Saturday afternoon from Melaywali Gali where she had gone for shopping with a friend. “They stopped their car in front of us. The three men were all armed so no one in the market dared intervene and stop them,” her friend said. Saima said she was taken to a house where the three men sexually assaulted her. She said at dawn the suspects drove away. Saima said she left the house on her own after recovering from the shock and took a bus home.

She said her father took her to a hospital.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2011.