Motorway police foil bid to kidnap woman in Punjab

LAHORE: A kidnapping attempt was foiled by motorway police near Sahianwala on Sunday after three accused tried to lure a woman on to a vehicle with promises of a fake job. 

According to police, the woman called the motorway police helpline after she got suspicious as they attempt to rape her, following which the accused managed to flee from the scene.

After taking the required measures, the police handed the woman over to her family members. Sexual violence against women is on the rise in the country with several cases reported on a daily basis.

Earlier, the Punjab police department had said more than 2500 rape cases reported in the province during the last eight months of the current year.

According to a report issued by the Punjab Police, the crime rate in Punjab increased by 14 percent in the province during the ongoing year as compared to the previous year.

More than 328, 00 rape cases were reported in different areas of the province during the last eight months, according to data compiled by the police department.

The report said more than 160 murder cases were reported from January 01 till August 10, while the robbery was reported 11,587 times in Punjab.

During the last eight months, 22 cases of ransom kidnapping and 2523 cases of rape were registered in the province. The report said that 132 cases of gang-rape were registered during the current year.

Last month, two armed men allegedly raped a woman stranded with her children on the motorway before robbing her of money and other valuables, according to a police report on the incident.

The woman, a resident of Gujranwala, was on her way back to the city from Lahore’s Ring Road at 01:30 AM, when her car ran out of petrol near Gujjarpura around an hour later.