August 7, 2026
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
The Chairperson of the Anti-Rape Special Committee (ARSC) has taken serious note of the reported rape of a mentally disabled woman, by a police officer, inside the Ghaziabad police station in Lahore.
“That a serving police official is alleged to have committed this assault within a government building, a space meant to ensure public safety, reflects a serious lapse that warrants close attention,” said Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq in a statement as chairperson. “We acknowledge the prompt initial response by the Punjab Police: the arrest of the accused ASI and the suspension of 78 personnel, including the SHO, pending inquiry into negligence.”
She stated that along with these initial steps, the Committee also encourages the Punjab Government to build on them. Some of the proposed suggestions by the ARSC include:
- A timely, transparent prosecution: ARSC says that it would encourage that the case proceedings be conducted in the statutory time frame, under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021, with a trial conducted through a Special Sexual Offences Court. They also said that full utilization of the Special Sexual Offence Investigation Unit (SSOIU) or Joint Investigation Team (JIT) mechanism the Act provides for must be taken into account.
- ARSC also suggests a closer look at institutional safeguards. “The circumstances, such as the fact that an unaccompanied woman was brought into a police station with no female staff present, points to gaps in existing custody protocols. The Committee would support a review of SOPs on custody procedures, mandatory presence of female officers, and CCTV coverage across police premises in Punjab,” it said in the statement.
- ARSC also said that the rape survivor and her family must continue to recieve support, including trauma-informed medico-legal care and psychosocial support, with particular sensitivity given her disability.
- Most importantly there must be a clarity on the outcomes for the 78 suspended personnel, so that the public can see how negligence results into concrete consequences, in line with Section 155-C of the Police Order 2002.
However the ARSC condemned the move by the Punjab Police advising women not to enter police stations after dark.
Speaking to Voicepk, Sen. Ayesha questioned how this was even possible.
“Tomorrow if a woman is abused or sexually assaulted in the daytime at any of the police stations, will that mean that we stop entertaining women, who are more than 50% of our population, to come and complain and register an FIR at a police station?” she asked. “I think this doesn’t make sense. I hope and I’m sure the Punjab government is going to introspect on this. And while we welcome the positive steps they’ve taken, the idea of the special Anti-Rape Investigation and Trial Act and all special structures that have been made with the help of all political parties are to ensure speedy and accessible justice to women, our most vulnerable in the society.”
Farooq said that the situation was similar to banning vehicles on the road only because there were road accidents.
“Going forward, this attitude is not going to instill any confidence amongst our women who we are trying to promote, advocate for, to come out and report such crimes. And those who are responsible to uphold justice and give, provide justice should face the severest penalty here.”
Background
On Auguest 2, an incident shook Lahore, where a woman alleged that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she had suddenly gone missing from the roadside and then later returned home in tears and torn clothes saying she had been raped inside the police station by the police officer.
The accused was arrested and is facing a criminal investigation for rape, while all 78 police officials and staff members of Lahore’s Ghaziabad police station were suspended on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Lahore’s deputy inspector general (DIG) of police (Operations), Faisal Kamran, introduced new standard operating procedures (SOPs) prohibiting women from remaining at police stations after sunset to safeguard women’s dignity and security.
“Female complainants or women accused in criminal cases should not be summoned to police stations after sunset,” he said, except in extraordinary cases, where they may only be kept after dark with approval from a senior police officer.