LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday granted police a three-day physical remand of a woman in the rape case of a 20-year-old Azeri national.
The woman was produced before Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood at the Cantonment Courts under strict security. A prosecutor told the court this was her first physical remand and argued that, being a woman, she could be kept in jail during the remand period.
Her counsel countered that her relationship with the complainant was limited to friendship. He argued that physical remand of a woman could not be sought except in offences of murder or robbery, and that nothing was required to be recovered from her.
The magistrate asked the suspect whether she wanted a medical examination. “No, I do not want to undergo a medical examination,” she replied. The court then granted the three-day remand, directing that she remain in police custody from sunrise to sunset and in judicial custody in jail for the rest of the night.
Azeri rape case Lahore: The case so far
The complainant, who had travelled to Pakistan for business, reported that she was allegedly gang-raped by three men in a rented flat in a private housing society near Raiwind on the night between Sept 25 and Sept 26. Defence C police registered a case against three unidentified suspects on Sept 26.
In her statement, the complainant had named two women she had met before the accused men joined them. Two of the men were arrested and sent on a six-day physical remand on Tuesday. A sessions court separately granted interim pre-arrest bail to the second female suspect, restraining police from arresting her till Oct 5. Her lawyer said she wanted to join the police investigation to prove her innocence.
Azeri rape case Lahore: Second such case in four months
Dawn reported that this is the second case in which a foreign woman was reportedly gang-raped in the Defence C police station area in the last four months. In June, two foreign women, nationals of the Netherlands and Venezuela, were allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted. The FIR said five suspects, including a close relative of a senior political personality, abducted the women, demanded ransom and sexually assaulted them during their captivity.
FAQs
What remand did the Lahore court grant in the Azeri rape case?
Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood granted police a three-day physical remand of a female suspect on Wednesday, Sept 30. Two male suspects had been sent on a six-day physical remand a day earlier.
Azeri rape case Lahore: Where will the woman suspect stay during her remand?
The court directed that she remain in police custody from sunrise to sunset and in jail, in judicial custody, for the rest of the night.
What did the suspect’s lawyer argue?
Her counsel said her relationship with the complainant was limited to friendship, argued that a woman’s physical remand could only be sought in murder or robbery cases, and said nothing was required to be recovered from her.
What happened to the second female suspect?
A sessions court granted her interim pre-arrest bail on Tuesday, restraining police from arresting her till Oct 5. Her lawyer said she wants to join the investigation to prove her innocence.
When was the alleged incident reported?
Defence C police registered the case on Sept 26 against three unidentified suspects on the survivor’s complaint. The alleged incident took place on the night between Sept 25 and Sept 26.
