An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Tuesday remanded in the physical custody of police for 14 days a pair of suspects allegedly involved in the gang rape of a mother and her daughter.
The suspects — Umar Farooq and Munsib — were today produced in the ATC where Investigation Officer Muhammad Sarwar informed the court that the identification parade had been completed and that “the mother and daughter have identified both the suspects.”
“Weapons need to be recovered from the suspects,” he added.
At this, the court granted the police its request to secure the suspects’ physical remand for 14 days.
Special Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo attended the hearing on the government’s behalf.
The mother and daughter had identified the suspects on Saturday. The suspects were arrested last week after a case was registered on the mother’s complaint under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the first information report (FIR), the mother, 35, had told police that she and her 15-year-old daughter had reached Lahore from Vehari in a bus on August 22 at around 10 pm. She said they hailed a green-colored rickshaw at Thokar bus terminal to travel to her sister’s house in Officers Colony, Saddar Cantonment Board.
The FIR quoted her as saying that the rickshaw driver and another man in the vehicle instead took them to a deserted place on Lahore Development Authority Avenue and raped her as well as her daughter.
The police later also added Section 365-A (kidnapping for extorting property, valuable security) of the PPC and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act on Aug 24 to the case.
On August 23, Lahore Capital City Police Officer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said that the suspects had past criminal records and were involved in multiple rape cases. “Suspect Umar Farooq is a habitual offender,” he had said.
