Lahore: A Pakistani woman was allegedly gangraped in front of her three children Thursday by robbers on a motorway in Punjab province. The incident of gangrape has triggered public outcry in Pakistan. The woman was driving on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway when her car stalled near Gujjarpura area. The robbers took advantage of the situation to rob her and outrage her modesty. The car had stalled either due to shortage of petrol or some fault, police said.
The woman in the FIR said that she was waiting for her relative to arrive and pick her children and herself from the spot. It was then two armed robbers smashed her car window and attacked her. The robbers took her and children to a nearby field and gangraped her, police said. They also took away her purse that had cash, jewellery and three ATM cards, the woman said in her statement to police.
Newly-appointed Lahore police chief Umer Shiekh said he has constituted multiply teams to arrest the culprits. He informed some 12 suspects have been taken into custody so far. Sheikh, however, ‘blamed’ the women for the incident. He said ‘she should have taken GT Road to go to her house in Gujranwala’.
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“I am shocked… she, a mother of three, and the only driver late at night should have taken the GT (Grand Trunk) Road instead, which is densely populated,” Sheikh said.
Political leaders, civil society and rights activists have condemned the incident. They blamed the Punjab government for its failure to ensure law and order in the province.
Opposition Jamaat-i-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has given an ultimatum of 48 hours to the Punjab government to arrest the culprits. He said if it doesn’t happen his party would launch a countrywide protest.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team have politicised the police in Punjab. There are infighting among the police officials to grab better slots. No one is paying attention to the deteriorating law and order,” Haq said.
PML-N president and opposition leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif said nothing could be more shameful than this incident. He demanded justice for the woman and exemplary punishment for the rapists.