KHANEWAL:
Police claimed to have arrested five men, including the primary suspect, for the alleged abduction, gang rape and torture of a 15-year-old girl over several days.
The victim was also subjected to an acid attack before being dumped, semi-naked, in a street.
Police said that as per the victim statement, the ordeal began when the main suspect, Mustafa Bhatti, a resident of Mohalla Ghareeb Abad, discovered that the girl, with whom he had been in a relationship for three years under the pretext of marriage, was being considered for a marriage proposal elsewhere.
Enraged, Bhatti, along with accomplices Ali Abbas, Nadeem, Sabir, and Allah Rakha, allegedly abducted Faryal from her home in Ward 18 of the City Mianchannu area.
The accused took her to a house in the Latif Bagh Housing Scheme, where they imprisoned her in a room.
Over the next three days, the girl was subjected to continuous gang rape and severe physical torture.
The victim stated that the assailants, allegedly under the influence of drugs, repeatedly assaulted her, filmed the acts on her mobile phone, and tortured her with electric wires.
The brutality escalated when the perpetrators poured acid on her private parts, causing critical injuries. Believing her to be near death, they dumped her in a nearby lane from a car.
Upon receiving information, City Police Station SHO Rashid Nadeem Jutt launched an immediate investigation. Within hours, a police team successfully apprehended all accused, including the central figure, Mustafa Bhatti.
SHO Jutt confirmed the arrests and stated that a case has been registered against the suspects under Section 375-A (punishment for rape) and other relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The victim is currently under medical treatment, and further investigation is underway.
Published in Express Tribune on January 5, 2025.
