Twist in motorway rape case: Abid Malhi surrendered himself, says father

LAHORE: Abid Malhi, the prime suspect in the motorway gang rape case, surrendered himself to police, his father claimed in a video message on Tuesday.

Police arrested Malhi a day ago from Faisalabad, and according to authorities, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Special Branch of the police, and other agencies had tipped off Punjab police about the whereabouts of the suspect before they apprehended him.

However, according to the suspect's father, Malhi had called the police himself after which they arrested him from Lahore's Manga Mandi area in front of a person named Khalid Butt.

Read more: Suspect Abid Malhi discloses details of how he evaded arrest for a month

The father demanded that police release the women in his family as they had Malhi in custody now.

"Abid had expressed his wish to come home. At 6:30 pm, he returned," his father said. "Abid was sent to the Crime Investigation Agency's (CIA) [office] in Khalid Butt's car," he claimed.

On the contrary, the Inspector-General Police Inam Ghani claimed that the suspect had been arrested by police.

Lahore motorway gang rape case: Court sends suspect Abid Malhi on 14-day judicial remand

The motorway rape case's prime suspect had managed to evade arrest four times by escaping the clutches of Punjab police since almost a month after he allegedly committed the sexual assault. 

What is the motorway rape case about?

Malhi had been on the run since September 9, when it was reported that two robbers had allegedly gang-raped a mother of three on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway in an area falling within Gujjarpura police's jurisdiction.

The woman, along with her children, was driving to Gujranwala when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after running out of fuel, at around 1:30 am.

Read more: Woman robbed, raped after car ran out of petrol in Lahore's Gujjarpura

She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 from which she reportedly received no response.

In the meantime, two robbers reportedly approached the car, broke the window, and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they allegedly raped her in front of the children.

Read more: PM Imran calls for chemical castration of rapists

They also allegedly snatched her purse carrying Rs100,000 in cash, one bracelet, car registration papers, and three ATM cards.