Fury as police ‘blame victim’ for gang rape
THE gang rape of a stranded woman motorist in front of her children has caused an outcry in Pakistan with calls for the public hanging of the culprits.
Anger over the attack on a woman, whose car had broken down on a motorway outside Lahore, escalated after a senior police officer appeared to blame the victim for her choice of route.
Police yesterday said they had arrested 12 suspects during an extensive manhunt.
The woman, with her two children, was driving to Gujranwala when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after her car ran out of fuel at around 1.30am.
She called relatives for help, but before they could arrive two robbers approached the car, smashed the windows and dragged her and her children from the vehicle.
The attackers also took jewellery, bank cards and
£466 in cash.
A senior Lahore police officer later provoked further condemnation when he appeared to blame the victim.
Umar Sheikh questioned why the woman had taken that route and why she had not checked her fuel tank. His comments were condemned by Shireen Mazari, the human rights minister.
“For an officer to effectively blame a woman for being gang raped by saying she should have taken the Grand Trunk Road, or question why she went out in the night with her children is unacceptable and I have taken up this issue,” she said. “Nothing can ever rationalise rape. That’s it.”
Inam Ghani, inspectorgeneral of Punjab Police, claimed yesterday that officers had identified the culprits’ village.
Opposition leaders quickly attacked what they said was a breakdown in law and order.
“This is a matter of national embarrassment and evidence of a completely broken down legal system,” said Shehbaz Sharif, opposition leader in the national assembly.
Gang rape is rare in Pakistan, although sexual harassment and violence against women is not uncommon. Nearly 1,000 women are killed in Pakistan each year in so-called “honour killings” committed by family members for allegedly violating conservative norms.