ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Punjab has vowed to pursue the alleged gang-rape case of a woman from Azerbaijan, provincial information minister Azma Zahid Bokhari said this week after a video of the victim surfaced in which she changed her earlier stance, stressing that she did not wish to pursue the case further.

The incident allegedly took place last month, when the 20-year-old Azeri woman told police she was visiting Pakistan for business. The victim said two women took her to a cafe before three men brought her to a flat near Raiwind, drugged her and sexually assaulted her overnight on Friday. Police registered a case on her complaint and arrested two of the three male suspects and both women, saying that “sexual act” has been established on the basis of the medical report.

However, a video of the Azeri woman surfaced on social media in which she said one of the suspects, Ahmed Tanveer, had not sexually assaulted her. The woman can be heard saying in the video that she wanted to appear before the court to record her statement but was told that her life was in danger. She further claimed that she had been forcibly sent out of Pakistan and was not allowed to express her views, adding that she forgave the other suspects and did not want to pursue the matter further.

In a statement on social media on Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said it has come to light that one of the accused’s family allegedly offered Rs15-20 million [$53,000–$71,000] to the victim in exchange for withdrawing her allegations. Nawaz further said that it is alleged that the judge who granted bail to the accused had also been bribed.

Speaking on a current affairs program on Geo News on Friday night, Bokhari confirmed the government would pursue the case.

“The state will pursue this,” Bokhari told the channel.

“First, the co-accused in the case has also admitted that these suspects were involved with him in the act and secondly, kidnapping and robbery have also been included in the provisions of the first information report registered against them.”

She said in light of the above evidence, “it is not possible” for the suspects in the alleged gang-rape case to be released.

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 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.

Pakistani rights activists have complained about the lack of women’s rights in the country, blaming the state and the government for not taking action against cases of sexual violence, denial of inheritance, domestic violence, honor killings and other crimes against women.

A large part of Pakistani society still operates under a strict code of “honor,” with women beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry. Hundreds of women are killed by men in Pakistan every year for allegedly breaching this code.