Railway staffers gang-rape woman travelling by train to Karachi after visiting in-laws

• Men checking tickets gang-rape woman travelling by train to Karachi.
  
• She was on the Bahauddin Zakariya Express after visiting in-laws in Muzaffargarh.
• Karachi police register case on complaint of victim.

Three Bahauddin Zakariya Express railway staffers — two ticket checkers and their in-charge — gang-raped a woman passenger, Geo News reported Monday. The train runs between Multan and Karachi.

A case has been registered against the suspects on the complaint of the woman by the Karachi City Station police. She has recorded her statement with the police as well.

According to the FIR, the victim was travelling to Karachi from her in-laws place in Muzaffargarh via a train running under the private sector.

The FIR said she is a resident of Orangi Town in Karachi. Her husband gave her a divorce a month-and-a-half ago and so she had gone to Muzaffargarh to visit her children. She reached on May 26 and was returning to Karachi on May 28 via Bahauddin Zakariya Express.

The victim was travelling in economy class. When the train reached Rohri, a ticket-checker, Zahid, told her he can shift her to an AC compartment and introduce her to the in-charge, Aqib. The two staffers took her to another compartment, the FIR read.

Shortly afterwards, Zahid came to the compartment and assaulted her. On her constant struggle to escape, she was threatened and raped. After that, Aqib entered the compartment and raped her too. Later, the second ticket-checker also forced himself on the woman.

Upon reaching Karachi, the woman informed the police about the gang-rape. The train crew involved, however, had fled by then.

According to the police, the woman was taken to Jinnah hospital where the initial report of her tests confirmed she was raped.

The police said an investigation has been initiated. The law enforcers have reached out to the private company operating the train for details on its employees.