LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Comments by the lead police investigator suggesting that the victim of a gang rape in Pakistan that occurred along one of the country’s most secure highways was to blame have spurred cries of outrage.
Investigators say the victim left her home with her two children in Lahore and was driving when her car ran out of fuel around 1:30 a.m. She called a relative and a helpline for the highway police, but before they arrived, two men approached, broke the car’s windows, and dragged the woman and her children to a field beside the highway, where she was gang raped.
On Thursday, Omar Sheikh, the lead investigator in the case, said in a TV news program that the victim should have taken another highway, the Grand Trunk (GT) Road, and should have made sure she had enough fuel for the journey.
The highway the attack took place on was constructed to replace the centuries-old and traffic-plagued GT Road, and is equipped with CCTV and a dedicated police force. Sheikh declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
Shireen Mazari, the minister for human rights, said on Twitter that the investigator’s remarks were “unnaceptable.”
“The right to access public spaces and safe mobility is a fundamental right of every person in Pakistan, including women,” the Women in Law Initiative, a group of women lawyers and rights advocates, said in a statement condemning the attack and pointing out an increasing frequency in similar cases of violence against women and girls.
Twelve suspects had been arrested so far, Musarrat Cheema, spokesperson for the government of Punjab province, said on Twitter.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a statement on Twitter he was following the case closely and had asked investigators for the “arrest and sentencing of those involved in the incident as soon as possible,” adding that his government would look into how to strengthen laws to deal with an apparent increase in cases involving the rape of women and children.
In February, lawmakers passed a bill calling for those convicted of the sexual abuse and murder of children to be hanged in public. But the government opposed the bill and it was not enacted into law.
Pakistanis outraged as investigator blames mother gang-raped along major highway
https://arab.news/bw8vj
Pakistanis outraged as investigator blames mother gang-raped along major highway
- Lead investigator says victim should have taken another highway and made sure she had enough fuel for the journey
- Woman whose car broke down on highway Tuesday night was dragged to a field beside the motorway and assaulted in front of her children
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
