KARACHI: Law enforcement officials reported on Saturday that a man has been taken into custody in connection with the alleged rape of a foreign woman in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area of the city.
South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza informed Dawn that the suspect was arrested one day after the Darakhshan police filed a first information report (FIR) based on the woman’s complaint.
According to DIG Raza, the woman works as a cardiology medical assistant in the United States. He noted that she arrived in Pakistan on November 13, 2025, and was staying in Phase VI of DHA.
Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that Darakhshan police escorted the 49-year-old woman for a medical examination on Friday following her report of the alleged sexual assault.
“Her samples have been collected for serology and DNA,” the police surgeon stated.
The FIR was lodged on Friday, hours after the alleged incident, under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Police indicated that further investigation is currently underway.
As per the FIR, the complainant is a permanent US resident who had been residing in DHA since April.
She alleged that at approximately 4am on July 17, a man—whose identity she said she learned later—“was taking me home and I agreed he could have a drink with me.”
She recounted that she soon woke up in her bed and realized she was being raped. “It took me a minute to become fully alert to what was happening,” the FIR quoted her as saying.
The complainant stated she immediately resisted, screamed, and struck the suspect, who then fled the apartment. She attempted to pursue him but said he escaped on a motorcycle.
“I fell to the ground screaming in grief at the top of my lungs,” she said in the FIR.
The FIR added that a woman and her two daughters came to assist her, offered a shirt, and helped her return to the apartment.
The complainant further alleged the suspect later returned uninvited to retrieve his phone. She said she confronted him again, screaming and hitting him before he fled.
She also stated she again tried to chase him but collapsed on the street, “screaming in distress and trauma.” Someone subsequently contacted the police, and she was taken to the station.
On July 2, Lahore police registered an FIR after two foreign women from the Netherlands and Venezuela alleged they were abducted and sexually assaulted during a visit to Pakistan.
One of five suspects in that case, among four arrested, was reportedly linked to a senior political figure.