Another motorway rape case surfaces, prime suspect arrested

FAISALABAD: Another motorway rape case has surfaced as a woman was allegedly gang-raped during a robbery near the motorway in Faisalabad, prompting swift police action that led to the arrest of one suspect, officials said on Friday.

According to police, the incident occurred on March 25 in Sandal Bar, near the Faisalabad motorway. A case has been registered against three suspects. 

The incident bears similarities to the 2020 motorway rape case, where a woman traveling with her three children from Lahore to Gujranwala was attacked and gang-raped during a robbery.

This horrifying gang-rape had sent shockwaves among the public. Moreover, a statement by the then Lahore Capital City Police Officer, Umar Sheikh, sparked outrage when he remarked that the incident occurred because the victim “was travelling late at night without her husband’s permission.”

After weeks of search operations, the prime suspect, Abid Malhi, was arrested from Faisalabad on October 12, 2020. Malhi, the leader of a four-member gang, was also wanted in 10 other cases across Punjab. 

On October 21, 2020 police confirmed that the survivor of the motorway rape case had identified the suspect during an identification parade at Camp Jail. Later, on March 20, 2021, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore sentenced both culprits to death. 

According to the FIR of the latest motorway rape incident, three armed robbers on motorcycles intercepted a couple, looted them, tied the husband to a tree, and took the woman into a field, where they gang-raped her. 

Sandal Bar police registered a case on the complaint of the survivor’s husband and arrested one suspect, identified as Ali Sher. 

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Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who monitored the operation closely, praised the police for their swift action and ordered the immediate arrest of the remaining two suspects. 

“The government will not tolerate crimes against women. We will take all necessary steps to ensure the protection of women and children,” she asserted.