Woman allegedly gang-raped in front of husband in Faisalabad

• Highwaymen held husband at gunpoint, took turns assaulting wife.
• Police confirm victim’s medical exam completed for forensics.
• In 2024, a woman was ravished using same modus operandi.
  

In yet another disturbing incident, a woman was allegedly gang-raped in front of her husband by armed robbers in Faisalabad’s Sandal Bar area, police said on Thursday.

The crime allegedly took place in Chak No 62 JB Channan on March 25, 2025, when the couple was returning home from Agriculture University Hostel on a motorcycle.

According to the first information report (FIR), two armed assailants intercepted the couple near a motorway bridge and held them at gunpoint.

They snatched Rs800 in cash, a mobile phone, and the woman’s identity card before taking the husband to an adjacent sugarcane field, where they tied him up.

The suspects then took the woman to the same field, and one of them called a third accomplice on a motorcycle. The third suspect, described as tall and well-built, arrived at the scene. 

In the FIR, the rape victim’s husband’s stated that he initially searched for the suspects himself before reporting the incident to the police the next day via the emergency helpline.

The victim’s medical examination has been completed, and DNA samples have been sent for forensic analysis, according to authorities.

Police registered a case against unidentified suspects under robbery and sexual assault charges and launched a search operation.

As per SSP Investigation, geofencing of the crime scene led to the detention of three suspects, and further investigations are underway.

It must be noted that in August 2024, two armed robbers allegedly assaulted a married woman in Faisalabad's Chak No. 34 JB, located in Sandal Bar, after looting cash and mobile phones from her husband — suggesting a similar modus operandi.

In September 2020, two robbers gang-raped a mother of two on the motorway within Gujjarpura police's jurisdiction.

The woman, along with her two children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after running out of fuel.

According to reports, she immediately called a relative and sent him her location, who asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline — 130 — from which she reportedly received no response.

In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window, and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse carrying Rs100,000 in cash, one bracelet, car registration papers, and three ATM cards.

Pakistan has been debating harsher punishments for sex offences following public indignation over high-profile cases.

Lawmakers had considered introducing public hanging of those convicted of the sexual abuse and murder of children but it could have cost Pakistan preferential trade status with the European Union.

Fewer than 3% of sexual assault or rape cases result in a conviction in Pakistan, according to the Karachi-based group War Against Rape.