ISLAMABAD: A man raped a woman at gunpoint on a hiking trail in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the police said on Friday, in yet another incident that has raised concerns about safety of residents, particularly women, in the city.
The complainant, who is a resident of Punjab’s Sheikhupura city, told the police she had been looking for a job and the suspect, Nauman, lured her into the trap by offering a position in the education department, according to the police report.
“Nauman told me ‘I am an accountant in the education department and I have some positions vacant where [I] can have you appointed’,” the report quoted the complainant as telling the police. “For this, Nauman demanded Rs50,000 ($180).”
The woman traveled to Rawalpindi on July 12 and met with the suspect the same day to hand him her résumé and Rs30,000 ($108) as advance payment for the job, according to the report.
The suspect took the woman with him to Islamabad’s hiking trail 3 the next day on the pretext of introducing her to an official of the education department but raped her at gunpoint.
The police said they were investigating the matter on merit.
The incident comes months after two men raped a woman earlier this month at the capital’s largest F-9 park.
As per the police report, the complainant had been walking in the park with her colleague when the two men took them to a nearby forest at gunpoint, where they beat the woman and took turns raping her.
The February 2 incident triggered widespread anger and prompted a huge protest by rights activists, members of civil society, and women from different walks of life at the same park.
The Islamabad police later claimed to have gunned down the two suspects in a shootout.
