A security guard allegedly raped a student at a private college in Lahore, police said on Sunday, adding that they were able to arrest the suspect within 10 hours of the incident.
A statement from the spokesperson for Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Karman said that as soon as the incident was reported to the police via its sources, the DIG formed a special team to apprehend the suspect and probe the matter further.
A first information report (FIR) related to the incident has not yet been registered.
“Immediately after the incident, the suspect went into hiding,” DIG Kamran said, per the statement.
His office added in the statement that the suspect was later detained from outside Lahore and that he was arrested after multiple raids.
“The process of investigation is underway,” the spokesperson said. “We are also trying to reach the victim’s family … the legal process is ongoing.”
“Perpetrators of heinous crimes do not rest until they are caught,” the DIG said, adding that he is following the Punjab Government’s “zero-tolerance” policy against violent crime.
Earlier this year, a 2023 report released by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation revealed that throughout the year, up to 10,201 cases of violence against women were registered under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
This was a 14.5% increase from the 8,787 cases reported in 2022.
Lahore saw 1,464 cases, followed by Sheikhupura 1,198 and Kasur 877 cases. The report stated that on average, 28 women faced some form of violence every day in Punjab in 2023.
A total of 6,624 rape cases were registered in 2023, meaning that one woman was raped every 45 minutes, the report said. Faisalabad topped the list with 728 cases, followed by Lahore (721) and Sargodha (398).
Up to 626 women were kidnapped, 120 were killed in the name of honour, and 20 were trafficked in 2023. Lahore, Faisalabad and Rahim Yar Khan were among the hot spot districts for these crimes.
