Lahore Police Secure Five-Day Remand for Three Additional Suspects in Foreign Women Abduction Case

Lahore: A judicial magistrate on Monday remanded three additional suspects to police custody for five days in connection with the alleged abduction and sexual assault of two foreign women in the Defence area.

A day earlier, police officials told Dawn that all eight suspects named in the alleged abduction and sexual assault of the two women—including two prominent figures—had been arrested. The two foreign nationals left Pakistan on July 3 after being recovered.

The three suspects were presented before the magistrate at the Cantonment Courts on Monday; they are described as private security guards and attendants of the primary suspects already detained by police.

During the hearing, the public prosecutor requested a 14‑day police remand, noting that the weapons allegedly used in the offence have not yet been recovered from the suspects.

The prosecutor also told the court that medical examinations are needed to establish the suspects’ ages for the investigation.

Before ruling, the magistrate asked if the suspects wanted to make a statement; they declined to speak.

The magistrate also inquired whether the suspects had legal representation; they said none was present.

After considering the prosecution’s arguments, the magistrate granted police a five‑day custody order for further investigation.

Defence C police filed the case on charges of abduction and sexual assault of two foreign women. Four suspects, among them a relative of a senior political figure, remain in police custody until July 8.

Meanwhile, a sessions court on Monday granted pre‑arrest bail to a station house officer (SHO) in a case accusing him of forcibly entering the official residence of a judicial magistrate to obtain statements from the two foreign nationals.

Mustafabad police filed a case against SHO Faryad and other officers from the Defence C police station. SHO Faryad appeared before the court on Monday, and bail was granted until July 10.

The police officers are accused of forcibly entering the official residence of Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mehmood and pressuring him to speak with Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran over the phone.

A day earlier, the DIG (Operations) apologized to the judiciary for the incident, but defended the action, stating that “if that had not occurred, our media and international forums would have questioned our legal system”.

Source link