Two Pakistani sisters kidnapped, gang raped in Kabirwala (South Punjab)

Two daughters of a labourer were kidnapped and allegedly gang-raped by a group of men in Punjab's Kabirwala tehsil of Khanewal district some 45 km east of Multan, police said on Friday.
According to a First Information Report (FIR) of the incident, the two sisters were asleep in their room when five men entered their house located in Korai baloch area and they kidnapped them on gunpoint at 2am on October 10 (Thursday).
The suspects took the two women, who are in their 20s, to a mango orchard and subjected them to gang rape, according to their brother, on whose complaint the FIR was registered.
The family then sought the help of a panchayat (village council) to seek the release of their daughters by the men whom they suspected to have abducted the women.
Later on Thursday, the five suspects dropped the two women near their house. The sisters were naked when they were released, their brother told  Media
After the incident was reported by the victims' father at Kabirwala Saddar police station, Khanewal District Police Officer Umar Saeed Malik formed teams to apprehend the suspects.
A medical examination conducted at Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital Kabirwala confirmed that the two women had been raped, DPO Malik said.
He said one primary suspect in the case was arrested and raids are being conducted at various locations to nab the other four men. The arrested suspect confessed to his crimes, the DPO said.
A case has been registered against the suspects, two of whom remain unidentified, under Sections 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman for marriage) and 376 (rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and sought a report from the Khanewal DPO.
A senior police officer in Multan told  that the police have arrested the main accused and raids are being conducted to arrest the rest of them.

    Minor sisters rape case

    It seems cases of violence and sexual assault on girls are on the rise in Pakistan. Last year, two minors were allegedly raped by two men in Gujrat city of Punjab.
    The sisters, who study in classes six and nine, were shopping when the accused lured them and took them to a nearby house. They then raped the girls.
    In September this year, a minor girl was allegedly abducted and later gang-raped by five influential men in Chak district in Sindh province.
    According to media reports, the class 10 student was kidnapped from the fields by five men and then she was raped.
    The girl said that the suspects also threatened to release a video clip of the alleged crime and make it viral on social media. An FIR has been registered against the suspects.

    Violence against women

    Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with cases of sexual crimes and domestic violence recording a rapid rise.
    According to statistics collected by White Ribbon Pakistan, an NGO working for women's rights, 4,734 women faced sexual violence between 2004 and 2016. Over 15,000 cases of honor crimes were registered. There were more than 1,800 cases of domestic violence and over 5,500 kidnappings of women during this period.
    According to media reports, more than 51,241 cases of violence against women were reported between January 2011 and June 2017. Conviction rates, meanwhile, remain low, with the accused in just 2.5 per cent of all reported cases ending up being convicted by courts.
    The chief justice of Pakistan has recently announced that 1,000 courts would be set up to deal with the cases of violence against women.
    Pakistani women's rights activists like Mukhtaran Mai who herself is rape victim earlier told media that it's a systemic problem.
    "Women police stations and other facilities are set up in cities while the majority of the violence cases take place in villages," Mai said. "In rural areas, feudal landlords call the shots; the administration and police are subservient to these feudal chieftains who view women as commodities. So how can justice be delivered in such cases?"
    Farzana Bari, another prominent women's rights activist, believes the patriarchal attitudes prevalent in Pakistani society are responsible for the problem. "No government has ever tried to put an end to this mindset," she said.
    Previous Post Next Post