Azerbaijan Woman Drugged, Gang-Raped In Lahore, 3 Suspects Identified

Pakistan's Punjab police on Monday identified three suspects involved in the gang rape of a 20-year-old Azerbaijani woman in Lahore and arrested relatives of the prime suspect for allegedly facilitating the crime.

The woman also recorded her statement before a local magistrate on Monday, a court official said.

According to police, the victim, a resident of Baku, arrived in Pakistan more than two weeks ago for a business purpose and had been staying in the Raiwind area.

She told police that on the night of September 25, two women took her to a cafe in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area, where three men joined them.

The victim alleged that the men later offered her and two other women a ride in their vehicle but instead took her to a flat, where they consumed alcohol, and she was given an intoxicating substance.

The woman alleged that the three men gang raped her and later abandoned her near the Ghazi Interchange area. She also alleged that the suspects took her mobile phone before fleeing.

DIG Operations Faisal Kamran said all three suspects have been identified and police teams have been formed for their arrest.

The perpetrators have been identified as Ahmed Tanveer, Ali and Mohsin. He said Tanveer is a prime suspect and his two relatives have been taken into custody for allegedly facilitating him.

A source in Punjab police said the suspects escaped from Lahore soon after the sexual assault, and the police traced the last location of one of them somewhere in Sialkot city, some 100 km from Lahore.

The suspects' names have also been placed on the no-fly list, the source said.

Meanwhile, police have also been examining the woman's previous visits to Pakistan.

According to a police source, the woman had travelled to Pakistan twice earlier this year and was on her third visit when the alleged incident took place.

As per the the source, the woman had been travelling between Lahore and Faisalabad in connection with a textile business and could understand and speak Urdu.

Police have continued raids to trace the suspects, while the investigation into the alleged assault is under way.

This is the second such case in which a foreign woman was reportedly gang raped in Lahore in the last four months.

In June, two women, a Dutch and a Venezuelan, were raped by four men, including a close relative of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)