'Is this punishment for being a daughter of Pakistan?': Minar-e-Pakistan victim narrates 2.5-hour ordeal

The woman who was attacked by a mob at Minar-e-Pakistan on August 14 on Wednesday narrated her ordeal, which, she revealed much to the shock and horror of everyone, lasted around two-and-a-half hours.

In an interview with Daily Pakistan, the woman said that the mob began by wanting to take a selfie with her and her companions, who had gone to the Greater Iqbal Park in Lahore to make a TikTok video.

"It was okay as far as taking a selfie goes [...] but they soon pushed the whole group to a fenced area, and later it was torn down and everyone came pouring in," she said.

As the mob continued to harass the group, the woman said a point came when a small pond came. She thought to herself that maybe that is what she should do: jump into the water. "My team kept telling me to jump, but I couldn't."

Horrifically, she went on to narrate how the group even called the Police Helpline number, 15, but to no avail.

"I was tortured from around 6:30pm to 9pm," she said, adding that the mob kept tugging at her hair and propping her up as she lost balance, saying, "she must be faking it, she must be okay".

"If a woman is not safe in her Pakistan, in her own city, then she is safe no where," she said, between sobs.

She said that people continued to touch her and treat her like a "play thing".

"There is no part of my body which is not bruised," she added.

The woman said that as may be the case when someone may find a woman wearing what they deem to be "objectionable clothing", this was no such incidence.

"I did not wear any vulgar clothes. I have never worn such clothes, or made vulgar videos. I was in a proper dress. I had got a new one stitched for August 14.

"Before I knew it, I was stripped bare," she said.

The woman recalled calls being made multiple times to law enforcement to come to the rescue and she managed a meek "help me" for them to hear, but no one came for hours.

"Why was this done? I never did anything wrong to anyone. No one even knew me.

"Is this my punishment for being a daughter of Pakistan?" she asked.

'Gave up hope I would make it out alive'

Later, while speaking to Geo News, the woman said that she had arrived at the park close to 6:30pm, and within 15 minutes, the assault by the mob began.

"I sought refuge under the Minar-e-Pakistan but they found me there too," she said.

The woman said she was tossed into the air and water was splashed on to her, adding that her dupatta (veil) and shoes "disappeared".

She said that she couldn't breathe at one point and had "given up hope" that she would make it out alive.

The woman demanded that stern action be taken against the perpetrators and said that she is willing to identify them in court.

The incident

In yet another terrifying episode of violence against women amid a rise in such incidences, a woman in Lahore's Greater Iqbal Park was assaulted by hundreds of men on August 14.

The victim, along with her friends, was making a TikTok video in the park when hordes of men of all ages climbed a fence and attacked the woman.

The victim told the police that the men groped her, tore off her clothes, beat her, and tossed her in the air. In addition, they robbed her of Rs15,000, snatched her mobile phone and took off her gold ring and studs.

Out of hundreds of men, many of who just stood there and even made a video, only one person came to the woman's rescue and helped her get out of the park.

A case has been filed against 400 people but arrests are yet to be made.