the men said they would call more friends to assault her
A 24-year-old Pakistani woman was allegedly gang-raped at gunpoint in Islamabad’s F-9 park by two unidentified men on the evening of February 2, 2023.
A First Information Report (FIR) was filed at Margalla Police Station and an investigation was launched to identify the perpetrators.
After filing an official report, the victim was then taken for a medical examination at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
Doctors medically examined the victim using rape protocol testing to identify the severity of the crime committed against her.
Samples of swabs taken were sent to a forensic lab and the results proved she was sexually assaulted.
According to the FIR, the victim lived in Mian Channu, Islamabad.
She had visited the park with a male friend when two men approached them and threatened them with a gun.
After demanding that they hand over their valuables, the men escorted them to an isolated area of the park and raped the woman.
When she tried to resist, the men said they would call more friends to assault her if she continued.
After the gang rape, the men handed over her valuables and paid the woman and her friend Rs. 1,000 (£3) to keep quiet about the incident.
According to the FIR, they told the victim that she should not have been in the park at that time of the night.
The Pakistani woman pleaded with the authorities to find the offenders, whom she claimed to be able to recognise upon seeing them.
Police assert that they have recorded the statements of security guards stationed at each gate and obtained CCTV video from each of the park’s four entrances.
Police also confirmed that they would be gathering a statement from the woman’s friend.
They said that footage from the neighbourhood’s Safe City cameras is also being used in the investigation.
Under the direction of Capital Police Officer (Operations) Sohail Zafar Chattha, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police’s gender protection unit is in charge of the investigation.
Others present in the park at the time of the event are being questioned.
The police vowed to apprehend and prosecute the offenders as soon as possible.
The incident has caused shockwaves across Pakistan.
Women in Islamabad have demonstrated their support for the victim by hanging their dupattas from the gates of Fatima Jinnah Park in the F-9 district to show solidarity.
During their peaceful protest in F-9 Park, participants urged the authorities to take swift action against the offenders and asked for fairness for women in public areas.