Police on Tuesday launched raids to arrest eight suspects who allegedly abducted a couple in Hafizabad and subjected them to physical and sexual assault.
According to a first information report (FIR) filed by the victim, he and his wife were attacked by multiple armed men who took them to a secluded place near a graveyard.
The complainant said in the FIR that he and his wife were subjected to physical violence, sexual assault, and robbery, adding that his wife was “gang-raped despite me repeatedly pleading with the suspects to stop.”
The culprits filmed the assault and blackmailed the victims, it added.
The FIR also said, “We delayed reporting the incident because the suspects had threatened us, saying that if they we took legal action or got a medical examination done, they would kill us.”
The victim added that the suspects had uploaded the footage of the assault on the internet, requesting justice be served at the earliest, according to the FIR, which named four of the total eight suspects.
Hafizabad Police Officer (DPO) Atif Nazeer told Dawn.com that a case was filed against the suspects, who will be arrested within 24 to 48 hours.
“The suspects were being identified using video footage and police raids are currently underway,” he said. “The couple has undergone a medical examination, and investigations into other legal aspects are in process.”
Despite the presence of anti-rape laws — with punishment for rape either resulting in the death penalty or imprisonment of between 10 and 25 years — cases continue to prevail in the country.
In March, Punjab police arrested three suspects for allegedly gang-raping a woman in Lahore, according to a statement by the police.
Earlier this year, the provincial government planned to increase the number of Special Sexual Offences Investigation Units (SSOIUs) across the province to investigate scheduled offences under the Anti-Rape (Investigation & Trial) Act of 2021 and offer better services to women.
Around 150 more units would be added Punjab-wide to probe the scheduled offences in this regard.
Since a large number of cases were being reported and registered, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz instructed Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal to enhance the number of units and appoint designated trained officers to help out women complainants.
