WEBDESK - NAYADAUR
Lahore police have arrested one of three suspects allegedly involved in the gang rape of a 20-year-old Azerbaijani woman, authorities said Monday.
According to a statement from Lahore Deputy Inspector General of Investigations Zeeshan Raza’s office, the woman underwent a medical examination, which police said found evidence consistent with rape. She also appeared before a court and recorded her statement under Section 164 of Pakistan’s Code of Criminal Procedure.
The woman had filed a case at Defence C police station on Sunday.
According to the first information report, the woman told police that she was from Baku and had arrived in Pakistan around 15 to 20 days earlier for business purposes.
She alleged that on September 25, between 11 p.m. and midnight, two unidentified women approached her and took her to an unidentified cafe for dinner.
The woman told police that three men were present at the location and that she could identify them.
According to her account in the FIR, the three men later took her to an unidentified apartment on the pretext of going out. She alleged that the men mixed a substance that caused unconsciousness into alcohol and sexually assaulted her one after another.
She further alleged that the suspects left her near Ghazi Interchange at around 2 p.m. on September 26. She told police that the suspects had also taken her iPhone 13 and Redmi phone.
The woman said she borrowed a phone from a passerby and contacted police after being left near the interchange.
Police registered the case under Section 375-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which relates to gang rape.
DIG Investigations Zeeshan Raza confirmed that one suspect had been arrested. He said police teams were conducting raids at different locations to arrest the remaining two suspects.
The case has drawn attention because it involves a foreign national visiting Lahore. Authorities have said the investigation is continuing and that further arrests are expected.
The incident follows another case involving foreign women in Lahore earlier this year.
In June, two women from the Netherlands and Spain were allegedly abducted in Lahore. Police subsequently arrested eight people in connection with that case, including a relative of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.
According to police statements at the time, the women had arrived in Islamabad on June 26 and later traveled to Murree and other areas before reaching Lahore on June 29.
The complainant in that case alleged that the suspects demanded ransom for their release and that one of the women was repeatedly raped while an attempt was also made to assault the other.
Police investigations into both cases remain subject to further legal proceedings and evidence.