A student named Naveed escaped a rape attempt in F-9 Park on Monday while out for a walk. Naveed, 17, recently moved from Saudi Arabia to Islamabad for his studies. Talking exclusively to Daily Times, Naveed said, “I went for my routine walk in F-9 Park at 7pm when I felt someone following me. I saw a man who must be around 50 years of age, with his eyes on me the whole time. Growing suspicious, I changed my walking route. He started following me again, and all of a sudden, he leapt and grabbed me by my shirt, putting his hand on my mouth to keep me from screaming. Luckily, I managed to free myself from his grasp and yelled for help. On hearing the commotion, the park’s guards rushed towards me but before I could tell them about the man, he had already vanished.” The Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials approached him and told him to relax. He argued that it was a rape attempt because the attacker did not aim to grab his mobile phone or wallet or anything else. A source in CDA told that due to negligence of the CDA officials, now the park’s security and lighting system has also gotten so poor that even if such accidents do happen, no one can notice properly. The enraged student complained that the guards and the authorities of F9 Park are not performing their duties diligently even after getting paid on time. Naveed informed that his infuriated sister demanded the park’s authorities and guards to be vigilant and keep an eye out for mysterious looking persons but the guards were full of excuses. They argued that the safety of the visitors was not their responsibility and everyone should look after themselves. It is pertinent to mention that only but recently, a girl was sexually assaulted by CDA officials in F9 Park which is also known as Fatima Jinnah Park. Also talking exclusively to Daily Times, CDA official Abid Shah said that they carried out a search operation after the boy complained of harassment, but nothing could be found to trace the perpetrator. Published in Daily Times, September 26th 2018.