NAROWAL: The police on Monday arrested a suspect who allegedly kidnapped and raped a first-year student, daughter of a labourer of Meeran Shah Hussain area of the city, more than 20 days ago.

Shamshad Bibi, wife of Muhammad Yaqub, a resident of Meeran Shah Hussain, filed a complaint with the police that on Aug 12, she was selling pakoras near Ransival railway crossing, along with her husband.

She said an unknown man and a woman came to her stall on a motorcycle and asked her to clean their house in another area of the city, promising to give her Rs5,000 as wages for the work.

The complainant said the man and woman accompanied her to her house from where she (Shamshad) took her younger daughter along to help her in cleaning work.

She said the man picked her and her daughter from her house, but later dropped them on New Lahore Road, gave them money and address of a house in housing colony, asking them to reach there on their own.

The complainant said that the motorcyclist then went to her house and kidnapped her 20-year-old elder daughter, a first-year, who was at home.

Shamshad Bibi said that after failing to find the address given by the man, she returned home and came to know that her elder daughter had been kidnapped.

She said the next day her daughter returned home and told her that the man had allegedly raped her and fled away after throwing her in the fields near Zafarwal.

Shamshad then reported the matter to the Narowal city police, which registered an FIR on her complaint.

The girls’ parents then appealed to former federal minister and PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal for help in the arrest of the suspect.

Ahsan Iqbal contacted senior police officer and asked them to ensure early arrest of the suspect. Narowal city police Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Khalid Khan said the police identified the suspect with the help of more than 100 CCTV cameras and arrested him in a raid in Abbottabad using modern technology.

Later, in a press conference, Shamshad Bibi and her daughter thanked the police and the PML-N leader for arrest of the suspect, hoping they would be provided justice by the courts.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2023