In a another distressing incident, a woman was allegedly gang-raped by three armed robbers in front of her husband and young daughter in the Hafizabad district near Lahore.
The assailants took the woman to a nearby field and committed the heinous act in full view of her family, shocking people both domestically and internationally. Reports state that the family was traveling to Chiniot on a motorcycle when they were stopped by three bandits near Sukheke. The attackers then committed the crime and fled the scene.
The Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs), introduced after the 2020 Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape incident to address sexual assault cases, were blatantly ignored by the police officials in Hafizabad and Nankana Sahib districts. Instead of assisting the victim’s family, the police engaged in a jurisdictional dispute, according to Dawn News.
The rape victim was subsequently taken to a hospital. An official revealed that the family, residents of Chiniot district, was returning home from a visit to the woman’s maternal uncle late on Wednesday night.
Around 11:30 p.m., three thieves intercepted them. After committing the horrendous act, the perpetrators left the area. When the incident was reported to the police emergency number 15, Nankana police redirected the call to Hafizabad district police, citing jurisdictional issues. Hafizabad police dispatched a team to the crime scene but after a brief investigation, declared it within the jurisdiction of Nankana police.
