Rapists of mother, daughter arrested in Lahore

LAHORE: Within less than a year of the Sialkot-Motorway rape incident, another horrific incident occurred in the heart of provincial metropolis in which a 35-year-old woman and her 15-year-old daughter were gang-raped by a rickshaw driver and his accomplice in Chung police limits in the wee hours of Monday.

The rapists were arrested within a few hours by the Lahore Police. The victims “I” Bibi and her 15-year-old daughter “Ir” were gang-raped by the accused while taking them to their destination.

CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar disclosed this while addressing a press conference at his office here on Monday. The victims, who were residents of Tehsil Mailsi district Vehari, informed police through 15 that the accused rickshaw driver and his accomplice gang-raped them when they reached Lahore via bus. They took a ride on a rickshaw with registration number LEU-4882 at Thokar Niaz Baig bypass at 10 pm on Sunday.

The rickshaw driver identified afterwards as Umar Farooq along with his companion Mansab Ali, instead of taking them to Saddar Cantt, took them to a deserted plot near the LDA Avenue-1 and forcefully raped her and her daughter there. The accused pressed their throats and threatened to kill them if they did not keep quiet.

They snatched Rs5,000 and a cell from one of the victims. The rapists fled from the scene on the arrival of a car, leaving their rickshaw on the spot. The victim called at helpline 15 and PS Chung police immediately responded, registered an FIR and started investigation.

CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar took notice of the incident and directed the officers concerned to take action for the arrest of the culprits. Accused Umar Farooq was arrested early morning on Monday and his helper Mansab Ali was arrested till noon same day.

Accused Umar has record history in rape cases at PS Nawab Town and PS Haveli Lakha district Okara. The culprits have been shifted to the CIA Kotwali for further investigation.

CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said Chung the gang rape incident could have created hype as it was similar to the Motorway gang rape case however, Lahore police remained successful in solving the case by arresting the culprits in record time.

He lauded the performance of DSP Chung Circle Javed Sidique and his team for speedy action. He said other relevant sections including 392 in the already registered FIR would be added. He added geo-fencing of possible suspect of molestation of woman in motorcycle-rickshaw is under process.

While talking about Greater Iqbal Park case, DIG Investigation Shariq Jamal said 130 suspects have been taken into custody so far and investigation is in process on modern line of action. He said challan of the accused will be put as soon as the process of identification by victim Ayesha Akram and her friends is completed through a court.

Moreover, IGP Inam Ghani said police teams are working day and night to arrest all the accused involved in violence and assault on a woman in Greater Iqbal Park. While conducting operations in different districts of the province, 34 more accused have been arrested, bringing the total number of arrested accused to 126.

He said 15 more of the arrested persons are being sent on judicial remand for identification. He directed DIG Investigation Lahore to intensify efforts to arrest the remaining accused with the help of geo-fencing, all evidence including Nadra records and modern resources and bring them to justice through strong challans.

He said the accused who have been subjected to violence, abuse and ill-treatment of women do not deserve any concession and supervisory officers under their personal supervision should ensure steps to control such crimes and send detailed reports to central police office. He said measures should be taken for the protection of women in parks, bus stands, educational institutions, markets and other sensitive places.