All 29 suspects in Multan panchayat rape case arrested: police report to SC

MULTAN: Local police on Tuesday submitted a detailed report on the ‘revenge rape’ of a 16-year-old girl carried out on orders of a panchayat (informal village council) in the Supreme Court.

Multan City Police Officer Ahsan Younus submitted the report in the apex court as ordered by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, who had taken suo motu notice of the heinous incident last month.

The report states that all 29 suspects have been arrested in the case, including the primary accused.

Earlier in July, a panchayat [council of elders] in Multan was called after a family accused a man of raping a 12-year-old girl.

The panchayat then ruled that the sister of the man be handed over to the victim's brother to be raped. The punishment was carried out on July 17 after her family handed the girl over.

CJP takes suo motu notice of Multan panchayat rape case

Police claim to have arrested all the main accused in the case

The case came to light when both families filed criminal charges with police accusing the other family's son of rape.

The report on the incident states that the mother of the rape survivor notified the authorities on July 20, and a case was filed on the same day against the perpetrators.

In total, three cases were filed: against the accused Ashfaq Rafiq, Hameed and Umar Wada.

A challan [charge sheet] will be entered into the trial courts within seven days.

Questioning both sides in the cases had revealed the role of the panchayat in the rape, Multan CPO Ahsan Younus had earlier stated.

"All the village council elders who ordered the revenge rape have been arrested," he had said.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also taken a notice of the incident and vowed to ensure justice.