ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police have arrested one of three men suspected of gang-raping an Azerbaijani woman in Lahore, a senior officer told Arab News on Monday, as investigators awaited forensic results to assess the allegation against multiple suspects.

Sexual violence cases have drawn scrutiny in Pakistan over low conviction rates. A civil society review of police data recorded 5,339 reported rape cases nationwide in 2024 and put the conviction rate for that year at 0.5 percent. 

The 20-year-old woman, who was visiting Pakistan for business, told police that two women took her to a cafe before three men brought her to a flat, drugged her and sexually assaulted her overnight on Friday. Police registered a case on her complaint and said Sunday that they had identified the three men and recovered a vehicle allegedly used in the incident. 

“We have arrested one main accused Mohsin. Sexual act has been established as per the medical report. Gang rape can be established once we get the PFSA report,” Syed Zeeshan Raza, deputy inspector general of police for investigation, told Arab News, referring to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency, which examines evidence for criminal investigations. 

Separately, the woman recorded a statement before a judicial magistrate in Lahore on Monday, according to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper. Police had sought to prevent the three principal suspects from leaving Pakistan while teams searched for them.

The case follows the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of two other foreign women, from the Netherlands and Venezuela, in Lahore earlier this year. Police arrested suspects in that separate case after a call for help from the family of one of the women. No connection between the cases has been reported.