A district and sessions court in Rawalpindi granted bail to a man suspected of rape after he decided to marry the rape survivor with 'mutual consent'.
The suspect, Tariq Niazi, had raped the woman over a period of several months, getting her pregnant. He later dumped the body of the infant instead of burying it, a report in Express Tribune said.
During the hearing of the case on Wednesday, Niazi told Judge Jahangir Gondal that the woman, Mehwish, has forgiven him and has decided to withdraw the case. He further said that they have decide to marry as well.
The judge asked the woman to state without any fear if she really wanted to marry Tariq, to which she said yes.
Subsequently, their marriage was solemnised in the courtroom, as the suspect signed the nikkahnama [marriage certificate], having alimony worth Rs50,000, with handcuffed hands.
The court ordered to submit bail bonds worth Rs0.1 million. The court then obtained Mehwish’s signatures on an affidavit. "The newly-wed couple swore before the court that they would live together as a family after which Tariq’s release orders were issued," the report added.
On Sept 21, a resident of Gujranwala registered a complaint against an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Punjab Police, alleging the police officer sexually assaulted her after she called the police emergency helpline 15 for assistance.
In a video, the girl said that the police officer who responded to her call raped her. She said the police have also not registered the case, as the respective DPO told her to withdraw the charges, assuring that the suspect would be held accountable.
On September 14, Gujranwala police arrested a man for allegedly molesting his 16-year-old stepdaughter multiple times in the Rajkot area of the district.
On Sept 18, two men allegedly raped a middle-aged woman in front of her daughters during a robbery at a house located in Peoples Colony near Raja Chowk, Faisalabad.
According to Batala Colony police, the two suspected robbers broke into the house and sexually assaulted the woman — who is a labourer by profession — before managing to get away with Rs200,000 and other valuable items.
Human rights activists and people from civil society in major cities of Pakistan, including Karachi, held demonstrations against the incident in the wake of the increase in rape cases. People demanded of the government to take measures in order to control such brutal and barbaric elements from the society.
In the wake of several rape cases across Pakistan over the past month, there has been an increase in the sale of self-defence weapons, such as pepper sprays, pocket knives and stun guns.
A report published on Geo News said that social media users, mostly women, are searching for stories that sell non-lethal weapons as they seek to protect themselves from potential predators. Amid an increasing demand, the stores have also started refilling their stocks.
“It is probably for the first time in decades that we are selling pepper sprays at our store — that too, after scores of women, especially young girls of school-going age, asked for this item in particular at our counters,” Geo quoted a mart owner in Karachi’s Saddar area as saying.
The suspect, Tariq Niazi, had raped the woman over a period of several months, getting her pregnant. He later dumped the body of the infant instead of burying it, a report in Express Tribune said.
During the hearing of the case on Wednesday, Niazi told Judge Jahangir Gondal that the woman, Mehwish, has forgiven him and has decided to withdraw the case. He further said that they have decide to marry as well.
The judge asked the woman to state without any fear if she really wanted to marry Tariq, to which she said yes.
Subsequently, their marriage was solemnised in the courtroom, as the suspect signed the nikkahnama [marriage certificate], having alimony worth Rs50,000, with handcuffed hands.
The court ordered to submit bail bonds worth Rs0.1 million. The court then obtained Mehwish’s signatures on an affidavit. "The newly-wed couple swore before the court that they would live together as a family after which Tariq’s release orders were issued," the report added.
Rape cases in Pakistan
On Sept 21, a resident of Gujranwala registered a complaint against an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Punjab Police, alleging the police officer sexually assaulted her after she called the police emergency helpline 15 for assistance.
In a video, the girl said that the police officer who responded to her call raped her. She said the police have also not registered the case, as the respective DPO told her to withdraw the charges, assuring that the suspect would be held accountable.
On September 14, Gujranwala police arrested a man for allegedly molesting his 16-year-old stepdaughter multiple times in the Rajkot area of the district.
On Sept 18, two men allegedly raped a middle-aged woman in front of her daughters during a robbery at a house located in Peoples Colony near Raja Chowk, Faisalabad.
According to Batala Colony police, the two suspected robbers broke into the house and sexually assaulted the woman — who is a labourer by profession — before managing to get away with Rs200,000 and other valuable items.
Human rights activists and people from civil society in major cities of Pakistan, including Karachi, held demonstrations against the incident in the wake of the increase in rape cases. People demanded of the government to take measures in order to control such brutal and barbaric elements from the society.
Increase in demand for pepper spray:
In the wake of several rape cases across Pakistan over the past month, there has been an increase in the sale of self-defence weapons, such as pepper sprays, pocket knives and stun guns.
A report published on Geo News said that social media users, mostly women, are searching for stories that sell non-lethal weapons as they seek to protect themselves from potential predators. Amid an increasing demand, the stores have also started refilling their stocks.
“It is probably for the first time in decades that we are selling pepper sprays at our store — that too, after scores of women, especially young girls of school-going age, asked for this item in particular at our counters,” Geo quoted a mart owner in Karachi’s Saddar area as saying.