The woman who was gang-raped on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway last month picked out two prime suspects Abid Malhi and Shafqat during an identification parade on Wednesday, reported ARY News. According to police, the identification parade took place inside Lahore’s Camp Jail where the suspects were brought in front of the rape survivor who identified both of them as the two men who subjected her to sexual assault in front of her children on September 9.
Motorway gang-rape victim identifies both accused https://t.co/h7ZUEUzHo0 pic.twitter.com/QOU9i3iM50
— 24 News HD (@24NewsHD) October 21, 2020
Abid was sent to jail on a 14-day remand by an anti-terrorism court following his arrest on October 13 while Shafqat was in police custody on physical remand. The court had ordered the police to hold the identification parade of the suspects inside the jail.
Read More: How to protect women against violence in Pakistan?
On September 9, the woman along with her children was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after her car ran out of fuel when she was forcefully brought out of the car at gunpoint and gang-raped in the Gujjarpura area on the outskirts of the provincial.
Police takeover Lahore-Sialkot motorway
Notably, following the motorway gang-rape and robbery incident near Gujjarpura, the Punjab police have decided to beef up security on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. As per details, a Central Police Office (CPO) video-link conference was held in Lahore to discuss matters related to security on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway.
The meeting was attended by Punjab Inspector General of Police (IG) Inam Ghan, IG Motorway Police and Federal Secretary Communication. During the meeting, it was decided that personnel of SPU and PHP would patrol the Lahore-Sialkot motorway, while 100 police officials will be deployed at the motorway for security purpose.
Read More: Rise of trafficking and domestic violence against women: How to stop it?
Inspector General of Punjab (IG) Inam Ghani has directed the joint teams of Special Protection Unit (SPU) and Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) to beef up the security in the area.
Violence against women in Pakistan
It is important to recall that Pakistan ranks 150 out of 153 countries on The Georgetown Institute’s Women, Peace, and Security index ─ among the five worst countries for women in the world. According to 2016 data, 26.8 percent of Pakistani women said they have experienced intimate partner violence.
#Lahore motorway gang-rape suspect #AbidMalhi surrendered himself, claims father
Details: https://t.co/E6BVlRbZjg#TheNews pic.twitter.com/JkqSlqXHNR
— The News (@thenews_intl) October 14, 2020
According to another report of the Aurat Foundation, Pakistan is a country where almost 70% of women are victims of domestic violence, at least once in their lives. This violence is generally committed by their intimate partners – husbands. These figures, however, do not include psychological violence, which is even more common in urban communities.
One in every three women in Punjab aged between 15 and 64 years has suffered violence, according to a survey conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The survey funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) was the first of its kind in Pakistan in collaboration with the Bureau of Statistics and Punjab Commission on the Status of Women.