In Sargodha, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) was suspended after a medico-legal report confirmed the alleged rape of a woman student. The police have initiated departmental action against the officer, who, along with his private guard, is accused of raping the woman after her father was arrested in a drugs case.
According to authorities, the district police officer (DPO) has established a two-member investigation committee to probe the incident, with instructions to deliver a report within 24 hours. The police had earlier been conducting raids to apprehend the suspects.
The case, filed at the Kotmomin police station, alleges that the ASI and his private guard lured the woman under the pretense of helping secure her father’s release. The victim revealed that she was taken to an empty house in Muazzamabad town, where the assault occurred. Her father reported that his daughter was later left outside their home in a semi-conscious state.
Rape and sexual assault crimes remain a troubling issue in Pakistan. Last month, a minor girl was reportedly raped and murdered in Karachi, while two suspects were arrested for gang-raping a woman in Faisalabad’s Painsra town.
According to the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), over 6,624 cases of violence against women were reported in Punjab in 2023, with Faisalabad, Lahore, and Sargodha among the hotspots. In Sindh, 200 cases of sexual abuse were recorded in the same year.
