The mass rape of a woman on one of the safest highways in Pakistan, and the subsequent blaming of the victim by a police officer, sparked outrage in Pakistan, as rights groups called for protests to press for the police officer’s dismissal.
Police investigators said the victim left her home with her two children in Lahore and was driving when the fuel ran out around 1:30 a.m.
The victim called a relative and a highway police helpline, but before they arrived, two men approached and broke the car windows, pulled the woman and her two children from the car to a field beside the highway, raped her in front of the children, and took her money and cell phones.
Lahore Police Chief Omar Sheikh was shocked Thursday when he said the woman was wrong for leaving the house at night and taking a deserted road instead of an alternate one.
The chief investigating officer of the case added on a TV news program that the victim should have taken another highway and had to make sure she had enough fuel for the trip.
The rape and the statement sparked outrage on social media, with politicians, human rights activists, writers, lawyers and TV personalities joining forces to call for the sack of the police chief.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a statement on Twitter that he is following the case closely and asked investigators to “arrest and sentence those involved in the incident as soon as possible,” adding that his government will consider how to tighten laws to counter the apparent increase in cases of rape of women and children.
Human Rights Minister Sherine Mazari denounced the officer’s statement and called on him to step down, saying that “blaming the victim is unacceptable.”
The Pakistani Human Rights Commission and a prominent feminist group said they would organize protests in the capital, Islamabad, and Lahore on Saturday to pressure the government to fire the officer.
For its part, the Women of Law Initiative, a group of female lawyers and rights defenders, said in a statement condemning the attack and pointing to the increase in similar cases of violence against women and girls, “The right to go to public places and to move safely is a fundamental right for every person in Pakistan, including women.” .
Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news