Daily Times

A woman was allegedly gang-raped at gunpoint in Islamabad’s F-9 park by two unidentified men on Thursday evening.

The Margala Police Station have lodged an FIR of the incident on the complaint of the survivor, and launched a probe to nab the culprits.

The case was lodged after she approached the police and complained of being gang-raped. A medical examination at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad confirmed sexual assault and samples were dispatched to a forensic laboratory.

As per the FIR, the woman was a resident of Mian Channu. She was roaming in the park with a friend when a man approached them and brandished a gun. He asked them to hand over their valuables and other belongings before forcing them to a dense part of the park at gunpoint. The two friends were separated at that point.

She claimed that the accused raped her at gunpoint, after which a second person also sexually abused her.

On offering resistance, both men beat her up, she claimed.

She claimed later, both the culprits returned their belongings, including mobile phones. He even gave her Rs1,000 and asked her not to frequent the park at such a time of the day.

The woman urged the police to nab the culprits, whom she said she could identify upon seeing.

Meanwhile, police claim they have collected CCTV footage from all four entry points to the park and recorded statements of the security guards deputed at all the gates. A statement of the woman’s friend would also be recorded, they added.

They said an investigation is also being conducted through footage from Safe City cameras of the surrounding area.

The probe is being led by the gender protection unit of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police under the supervision of Capital Police Officer (Operations) Sohail Zafar Chattha.

The capital police said the people present at the park at the time of the incident as well as the administration were being questioned.

Further, DNA samples of other suspects were also being collected, while evidence was being gathered on the basis of security camera footage and other investigations. The authorities vowed to arrest and bring the culprits to book at the earliest.