Tag: motorway gang-rape

  • Motorway gang-rape: Lahore CCPO could be arrested

    Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umer Sheikh, who recently made headlines for his controversial statements regarding survivor of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape victim, can be arrested if he continues to ignore the summons from the upper house of the parliament.

    As per the details, Senate Committee on Human Rights has dismayed over the absence of Lahore top cop who had been directed by the body to appear in person during its Wednesday meeting. Other than not appearing before the human rights body of the upper house, Sheikh did not notify any reason either.

    Irked over the cop’s absence, the committee chairperson, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, has said that it is unacceptable.

    While the committee has reportedly decided to submit a privilege motion against the CCPO and issued summons to ensure the officer’s presence at its next hearing, Khokhar has also hinted at the possibility of arresting the cop in case of continued absence.

    Speaking to senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, Khokhar said that the committee “will issue CCPO’s arrest warrants” if needs be.

    “Despite public outrage, the CCPO hasn’t had the courtesy to appear before public representatives. If he doesn’t appear, we will have no other option than to issue his warrants,” he said, adding that all committees of the parliament can do so owing to the powers vested in them under the constitution.

  • Prime suspect of motorway rape case escapes police again; this time after pushing cops away

    Prime suspect of motorway rape case escapes police again; this time after pushing cops away

    The prime suspect of the motorway gang-rape case has once again managed to avoid arrest after dodging the cops, this time in Nankana Sahib, The Current has learnt.

    “Abid Ali was visiting his sister-in-law in Nankana Sahib on Thursday afternoon when local authorities received information about his whereabouts and cordoned off the area,” police sources said, adding that suspect Abid Ali, however, managed to escape.

    According to Dunya News, this was the fourth occasion within the past 10 days when Abid managed to escape.

    “He was present at a park with his sister-in-law, and despite intel, the police responded after a delay of at least 30 minutes. When they tried to nab him, he pushed the cops and fled,” sources said.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Abid managed to avoid being arrested when a heavy contingent of police and other law enforcement agencies raided Raja Jang area of Kasur.

    According to reports, police had received information about Abid’s arrival but he disappeared into nearby fields amid suspicion over heavy cop presence.

    The incident was followed by a five-hour search operation in vain and the arrest of five of Abid’s relatives from Kasur for interrogation.

    Meanwhile, Abid’s ID card has been blocked to keep him from fleeing abroad.

    The statement of the gang-rape survivor, on the other hand, has also not yet been recorded.

    THE INCIDENT:

    A woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am last week.

    She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.

    In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards.

    READ: ‘We took her kids to the bushes to make her follow us,’ says man who gang-raped mother of three

    The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while Motorway Police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.

    Amid a strong reaction by the public and countrywide protests, at least one of the two culprits has surrendered. Abid is the arrested individual’s co-accused.

  • Dr Shahbaz Gill hits out at Frieha Altaf, Sarwat Gilani, calls them ‘pathetic elite’

    Dr Shahbaz Gill hits out at Frieha Altaf, Sarwat Gilani, calls them ‘pathetic elite’

    Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill has hit out at Frieha Altaf and Sarwat Gilani, referring to them as ‘badbakht elite’ after a video of theirs on their way to the celebrity protest went viral on social media.

    In the video, Sarwat and Frieha are telling their followers that they are on their way to the protest to demand justice for the motorway gang-rape victim and show a poster which reads ‘Rapped’ instead of ‘Raped’.

    Besides Dr Gill, several other social media users have called out the actors for being insensitive.

    Some social media users also directly called out Altaf and reminded users of problematic things she has done in the past.

    While Frieha and Sarwat are yet to respond to Dr Gill’s comments, Sarwat earlier clarified that a second protest was held because “a lot of celebrities were busy with work on the first protest’s date, [so] we decided to get out a day when most of us were available.” According to details, the protest was organised by Yasir Hussain, Frieha Altaf and Asim Jofa.

    Sarwat has now made her Twitter account private and only those who follow her can view her tweets.

    Meanwhile, fashion designer Maheen Khan, who was also part of the protest, also responded to some users who questioned why the celebrities felt the need to organise a separate protest. She also addressed the allegations that they hijacked the transgender’s protest.

    Other celebrities present at the protest include Mahira Khan, Sarah Khan, Ayesha Omar, Adnan Siddiqui, Ali Rehman Khan, Aijaz Aslam, Bushra Ansari, Anoushey Abbasi and Gul-e-Rana.

  • ‘We took her kids to the bushes to make her follow us,’ says man who gang-raped mother of three

    ‘We took her kids to the bushes to make her follow us,’ says man who gang-raped mother of three

    Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape accused Shafqat, who has confessed to his role in the horrific incident along with absconding co-accused Abid, has made shocking revelations regarding the incident such as how did they force the survivor to follow them into the bushes off the main road.

    According to reports, the accused, while detailing the entire episode, said that key suspect Abid called him and one Bala Mistri to reach Lahore for some criminal activity.

    “All three of us left to commit a robbery but Bala ditched us on the way.”

    Confessing to the robbery and rape, Shafqat told investigators that they were intoxicated at the time of the incident and initially had planned to only commit a robbery.

    “Abid smashed the windows and injured his hand in the process,” he said, adding that after looting the victim they decided to sexually assault her.

    “We decided to bring her off-road and after stiff resistance, took away her children to the nearby bushes so she would follow.”

    “As expected, the woman followed us off the main road where we raped her,” Shafqat said and added that they have committed various crimes at the same spot.

    According to his statement to the police, he further said that they spent the next day in the Qila Sattar Shah area of Sheikhupura district. “Then I went to Dipalpur while Abid went to meet his father in Manga Mandi.”

    “We last spoke to each other three days ago,” he confessed.

    Since it was not their first such criminal activity, Shafqat told the investigators during the probe that they also tried to sexually assault a woman during a robbery in Sheikhupura, however, the attempt was foiled after police reached the site of the incident.

  • Criminals like motorway rapists should be hanged at public squares: PM Imran

    Criminals like motorway rapists should be hanged at public squares: PM Imran

    Senior journalist and analyst Dr Moeed Pirzada has quoted Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as saying that criminals such as those involved in the Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape should be hanged at public squares.

    According to the journalist, the premier made the statement while speaking to him during an interview that will air tonight (Monday) on 92 News.

    “PM Imran Khan thinks that criminals like the ‘motorway rapists’ should be hanged at public squares; watch an explosive discussion with PM Imran Khan, in Hard Talk Pakistan, 92 News, 8:03 pm tonight,” Pirzadatweeted.

    The interview comes days after a mother of three was raped by two men after her car ran out of fuel on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway past midnight.

    As per the details, the woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am. She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.

    In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards. 

    The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while motorway police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.

    Amid a strong reaction by the public and countrywide protests, at least one of the two culprits has been identified.

    PUBLIC HANGINGS:

    While a number of people are demanding public hanging of the accused such as sought for serial child rapist and killer Imran Ali of Kasur, the premier’s belief contradicts that of federal science and technology minister and his government’s former spokesperson, Fawad Chaudhry.

    A day earlier, Fawad had said that calls for hanging and burning the rapists alive from prominent members of his party and the educated faction were a reflection of the society’s violent thinking.

    The minister’s comments had come after two members of the ruling party, namely Senator Faisal Javed and Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, called for extreme punishments for those behind the gang-rape and the rape and murder of minor Marwah in Karachi.

  • ‘I am sorry’: Lahore CCPO apologises after blaming mother of three for gang-rape

    ‘I am sorry’: Lahore CCPO apologises after blaming mother of three for gang-rape

    Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh on Monday apologised over his controversial statement regarding the motorway rape incident.

    “I apologise to the victim and all others who were hurt by my remarks. I had no intention of giving any wrong impression,” he said.

    The Lahore CCPO had earlier remarked that the rape victim should have been more careful and taken a safer route.

    “I am shocked… you are a mother of three and the only driver late at night… [she] should have taken the GT [Grand Trunk] Road instead, which is densely populated,” he had said while speaking to Dunya News.

    Sheikh went had further said that the woman should “at least have checked her fuel before taking the motorway”.

    On Tuesday night, it was reported that two robbers had gang-raped a mother of three on the Motorway within Gujjarpura police’s jurisdiction.

    The woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the Motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am. She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.

    In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards. 

    The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while motorway police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.

    At least one of the two culprits has been identified.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Identity of motorway gang-rape suspect revealed

    EXCLUSIVE: Identity of motorway gang-rape suspect revealed

    With authorities’ failure to protect the mother of three, who was gang-raped on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway on Tuesday night, drawing a strong reaction from the masses, the police have revealed the identity of one of the suspects behind the gruesome incident that shook the nation.

    As per the details, the individual, namely Abid Ali and a resident of Haroonabad town of Punjab’s Bahawalnagar district, is a proclaimed offender and has been nominated in multiple cases earlier as well.

    While accomplice of the 27-year-old is still unidentified and both the suspects are at large, it has been announced that Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat will shortly address a press conference to share further details.

    Reports, however, have cited sources as saying that the name of Abid’s accomplice is Waqar.

    IDENTIFICATION:

    Earlier in the day, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) had announced that one of the culprits had been identified following DNA testing and will soon be apprehended.

    Taking to Twitter to share the news, Dr Gill had congratulated Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani, Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh and the entire team.

    “DNA matched. The arrests will also soon be made. The people should know that Usman Buzdar, the IGP and the [Lahore] CCPO were in a meeting until 4 am. The CM himself has monitored the entire case,” he had tweeted.

    The tweet had followed a vaguely-worded tweet wherein Dr Gill said thanked Allah for his help and for listening to the prayers of the people.

    LAHORE-SIALKOT MOTORWAY RAPE CASE:

    On Tuesday night, it was reported that two robbers had gang-raped a mother of three on the Motorway within Gujjarpura police’s jurisdiction.

    The woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the Motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am. She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.

    In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards. 

    The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while motorway police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.