Motorway rape survivor to give a statement
The survivor of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway incident that transpired during the early hours of September 10 has agreed to record her statement with the police.
The rape survivor had initially refused to give a statement due to societal pressure, but will now register her complaint with the Lahore police through a telephone call. She will also potentially identify co-accused Shafqat Ali who was nabbed in Depalpur in Okara, and attend the legal proceedings into the case via a video-link. Her identity will remain hidden during the course of the investigation and trial.
Prime accused Abid Ali is still at large – despite the passage of 20 days, Lahore police have yet to ascertain Abid’s whereabouts, however they have reason to believe that he is still in Punjab in hiding.
ANP functionary missing for 3 days
Police have yet to trace the Awami National Party’s (ANP’s) provincial information secretary Asad Khan Achakzai, who had inexplicably ‘vanished’ on his way from Chaman to Quetta nearly four days back. Contact with him was lost near Kuchlak on Friday night, September 25. ANP leaders have condemned the disappearances and raised concerns regarding the security situation in Balochistan, a province long plagued by enforced disappearances. The party has called upon the government to ensure the rights of citizens and recover Khan posthaste.
Clifton gang-rape suspects secure bail
Two men suspected of abducting and raping a 22-year-old woman in Karachi’s Clifton area on September 21 have managed to secure interim bail from the Balochistan High Court (BHC) till October 13. Mir Abdullah Khoso and Sardar Qadir Khan Khoso are believed to have escaped to Quetta to escape immediate arrest by appealing for a pre-arrest bail from the suspects in the Clifton gang-rape incident, secure bail from the BHC. Karachi police are now planning to submit a request to the high court to rescind the bail, as the further investigation will be stalled without recording the statements of the suspects.