Authorities continue search for prime suspect in motorway gang rape case

Authorities continue to carry out raids for the arrest of key suspect in the motorway gang rape case, Abid Ali, who continues to remain at large.

Meanwhile, Waqarul Hassan, the other suspect in the case identified by the Punjab government, had surrendered himself on Sunday at Lahore's Model Town police station. He claimed that his brother-in-law was using the mobile phone which had wrongly implicated him in the crime, adding that he himself was not involved.

Police shared on Monday that further investigations have suggested that Waqarul Hasan may indeed not have been involved, adding that a final decision on the matter will be taken after they receive the DNA report of the suspect.

The police said Waqar had revealed that prime suspect Abid used to commit crimes along with an individual named Shafqat. They added that Waqar told them that Shafqat was a resident of Bahawalnagar and a friend of Abid.

The police said that they have dispatched teams to Bahawalnagar and Sheikhupura for the arrest of Shafqat following the revelation by Waqar. They also shared that the police has also arrested the brother-in-law and other relatives of prime suspect Abid Ali.

Chohan compares motorway rape case with Zainab case

Punjab’s Information Minister Fayyaz ul Hasan Chohan, when asked about the delay in the arrest of Abid Ali, compared the case to the 2018 rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab.

“Even three years ago when the Zainab rape case happened, it took three months to get hold of the culprits although the province had used all of its powers to get hold of the culprits,” reminded Chohan while speaking to Geo Pakistan.

The minister said that Abid Ali had committed rape for the first time in June 2013 and a first information report (FIR) was lodged against him but he was released after some time during Shahbaz Sharif’s government. He also shared that the forensic report had also been finalised months after his release.

He recalled that police have carried out geofencing of the area and have been working day and night with 28 teams on the case. He also shared that the law enforcement agency was able to identify Abid Ali “within 72 hours”.

“Yesterday, Waqarul Hassan surrendered after the police closely tracked him down. The police should be given credit where it is due,” said Chohan.

Talking about laws regarding protection of women and children, the minister said that there were a lot of laws for the safety of women and children "but they are never implemented”.

“This is my personal opinion, not the government’s stance, but I think the rapists should be punished publicly after fulfilling all legal terms,” said the minister. He added if this does not happen then a speedy investigation and prosecution should be done.

Parents' appeal to authorities

Meanwhile, speaking to Geo News, Waqar's mother said that her son is innocent and that he decided to surrender himself after he got to know of the incident.

"If my son had done something wrong, he wouldn't have surrendered himself," she said. The suspect's mother appealed to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to ensure justice is served in Waqar's case.

"My son is a pious and religious person, his life should be spared," she said, adding: "He runs a motorcycle repairing shop in Qilla Sattar Shah."

"If my son was a culprit, why would he present himself [to the law enforcement agencies]," she asked.

The mother said that she has four daughters and two sons and one of her sons was ill.

Meanwhile, Waqar's father said that his son is not a "thief" and "works at a shop".

He said Waqar is "innocent" and appealed to the authorities to release him.

Rs2.5 million reward

On Saturday, Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar had announced a reward of Rs2.5 million for each of the suspects if information leading to their arrest is shared. He said that the identity of those bringing forward any information will be kept confidential.

"We worked day and night and launched a probe using scientific techniques. I personally monitored the progress and directed the completion of the probe expediently," Buzdar had said.

According to the chief minister, seven cases — including two gang-rape cases — were registered against Abid, while two robbery cases were filed against Waqar who was reportedly released 14 days earlier on bail.

Buzdar said that the culprits will be given exemplary punishment for the heinous crime.

While briefing the media about how the police identified the suspects, Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani had said, "Geo-fencing of the entire area was carried out, data was taken from the Election Commission of Pakistan, fingerprints were taken from the site, and DNA tests were conducted".

IGP Ghani said that after the police went through the records they had gathered they got to know that Abid Ali had four SIMs registered in his name that he used on several occasions. All of the SIMs, however, were currently non-functional.

"Ultimately, we tracked down another number — that was not registered to his name — and it proved our suspicions right. Through this number, we were able to reach his partner as well," he said.

The Punjab police chief added: "We are 95% sure that [the person we have tracked down] is his partner as his phone signals were traced to the location of the crime [at the time of the incident]."

The incident

On Wednesday night, it was reported that two robbers had allegedly gang-raped a mother of two on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway in an area falling within Gujjarpura police's jurisdiction.

The woman, along with her two children, was driving to Gujranwala when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after running out of fuel, at around 1:30am.

She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 from which she reportedly received no response.

In the meantime, two robbers reportedly approached the car, broke the window, and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they allegedly raped her in front of the children.

They also allegedly snatched her purse carrying Rs100,000 in cash, one bracelet, car registration papers, and three ATM cards.