August 1, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
A 16-year-old girl employed at a beauty parlour in Nowshera district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was allegedly abducted and gang-raped, police said. A case has been registered at the local police station against four accused on the complaint of the victim.
According to police officials, the victim was abducted after being rendered unconscious with a chemical spray, and a subsequent medical examination confirmed sexual assault. Police have arrested the prime suspect, identified as Fazal Amin, while raids are underway to apprehend the remaining accused.
A false report of her father’s accident
According to the victim’s statement recorded in the First Information Report (FIR) registered with Nowshera Kallan Police Station , she worked at a beauty parlour where she was acquainted with the accused, Fazal Amin, a resident of Badrashi.
Her statement says that around noon on July 29, she received a phone call from Fazal Amin informing her that her father had been in an accident and was under treatment at CMH Nowshera.
Alarmed by the news, she said, she left the parlour and went to the location she was directed to, where a white car was parked with Fazal Amin and three other men inside. Her statement alleges that Fazal Amin forced her into the vehicle, which then set off in the direction of Mardan.
Her statement further says that after covering some distance, one of the men in the car pressed a chloroform-soaked cloth to her face, causing her to lose consciousness.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself at an unfamiliar location, where she alleges all four men raped her. She said she recognised the voice of one of the four as that of her cousin, Shayan, also a resident of Badrashi.
Once she found an opportunity, she said, she fled the location, took a rickshaw home, and recounted the entire ordeal to her father. She then went to the police station with her father, where the FIR was formally registered, naming Fazal Amin, Shayan, and two unidentified men as accused.
Medical report confirmed assault
Police officials say the investigation has been expedited following medical confirmation of the assault.
Police have registered an FIR against the four suspects under section 375A (gangrape) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The prime accused, Fazal Amin, has been arrested, while raids are being conducted at multiple locations to trace the remaining fugitive suspects.
Speaking to media, the victim’s father demanded the immediate arrest of all accused and called for justice for his daughter. Local social circles have also condemned the incident, calling on the administration to ensure a transparent and swift investigation so that the perpetrators are punished without delay.
Conviction rates for gender-based violence remain critically low
The Nowshera case adds to a growing list of gender-based violence (GBV) reports from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at a time when lawmakers and rights activists have been raising alarm over Pakistan’s poor record of securing convictions in such cases.
Briefing the Senate in November last year, Senator Sherry Rehman noted that despite two decades of legislation aimed at curbing GBV, conviction rates remain alarmingly low. She said an estimated 70 percent of GBV incidents go unreported, and that even among cases that are reported, the national conviction rate stands at around five percent — falling to as low as 0.5 percent in certain categories, with domestic violence convictions at just 1.3 percent.
Presenting province-wise data, Senator Rehman said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 143 honour-killing cases were reported with zero convictions, and only one conviction was recorded out of 258 rape cases.
In Islamabad Capital Territory, 22 honour-killing cases reported in 2024 resulted in zero convictions, while only seven convictions were secured out of 176 rape cases. Sindh registered zero convictions out of 243 rape cases and 375 domestic violence cases. In Balochistan, 32 honour killings and 21 rape cases resulted in no convictions, as did 185 kidnapping and abduction cases; of 160 domestic violence cases, only 25 convictions were secured — the highest conviction count among the provinces in that category, though still described as alarmingly low.
Punjab, which recorded the highest overall number of cases, saw only two convictions out of 225 honour killings. Senator Rehman stressed that without a functioning justice system, legislation alone cannot adequately protect women.
The Committee’s chairperson, Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, said that even accessing the courts remains an ordeal for victims.
The committee was told that women make up only 1 to 1.5 percent of police personnel, that medico-legal procedures are often flawed and DNA evidence mishandled, that investigations routinely take more than 1.6 months, and that challans can take up to five months to be filed — all factors that weaken prosecutions.
KPCSW alarmed at rising cases of violence against women
Last month, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW) expressed deep concern over what it described as an alarming rise in reported incidents of violence against women and girls across the province.
The Commission condemned all forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, rape, attempted sexual assault, child sexual abuse, harassment, kidnapping, unlawful detention, and honour-related crimes, stating that such acts must be dealt with strictly under the law.
Through its District Committees on the Status of Women (DCSWs), the KPCSW said it continues to respond to GBV cases, facilitate referrals, and coordinate with district administrations and law enforcement.
Over the past four weeks alone, the DCSWs handled 16 reported cases across Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Lower Dir, Tank, Khyber, Abbottabad, and Swat — including domestic violence, rape, attempted sexual assault, child sexual abuse, kidnapping, harassment, unlawful detention, family disputes, and a suspected murder.