ast week, a gang rape by four robbers in Muzaffargarh district was reported from Tibbi Bathian area of Khangarh.

According to the FIR registered with Khangarh police, the complainant stated that four robbers who had entered their house had gang raped his wife. “I am a resident of Head Muhamamdwala. I work as a caretaker of a fish farm in Tibbi Bathian in Khanagarh tehsil. My wife and children live with me. Around midnight on June 12 four unidentified men forced their way into our house. The intruders tied us up with ropes and locked us in a room. Then, they took my wife to another room and gang-raped her,” the complainant said.

Talking to The News on Sunday, Shahid Ahmed, the investigation officer in charge of the case, said DNA samples from the crime scene had been sent to the forensic science laboratory in Lahore. “The complainant did not identify any of the intruders. We have made a list of potential offenders and will try to match their DNA with that found on the victim’s person. No arrest has been made so far in this case. However, we are hoping for a breakthrough soon. It is a heinous crime,” he said.

The FIR includes Sections 376-ii-PPC, 392-PPC and 34-PPC. “If police do not botch up the investigation, the perpetrators will likely get death penalty in the case. PPC Section 376-ii says: When rape is committed by two or more persons in furtherance of common intention of all, each of such persons shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life,” senior lawyer Syed Irfan Haider Shamsi says.

According to Section 392: “Whoever commits robbery shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which [shall not be less than three years nor more than] ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and, if the robbery be committed on the highway, the imprisonment may be extended to fourteen years.”

According to Police Department statistics, there were 3,085 incidents of rape, 180 of gang rape, 146 of child rape, 1,289 of child abduction and eight of murder-after-rape reported in the province during the first 10 months of 2021. At least 10 police officials were also found involved in rape cases.

Aneela Ashraf, the complaint cell in charge at Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Multan, says incidents of violence against women are on the rise in south Punjab. She blames police apathy for the trend. “Women are becoming more vulnerable and insecure in the region. According to official statistics of the Police Department, there were 3,085 incidents of rape, 180 of gang rape, 146 of child rape, 1,289 of child abduction and eight of murder-after-rape reported in the province during the first 10 months of 2021. At least 10 police officials were found involved in rape cases,” she says. She says the police had failed to arrest 60 percent of the suspects in gang rape cases in 2020.

Aneela Ashraf says that 77 cases of gang rape were reported during the first six months (January-June) across Punjab this year. “Of these, the police have managed to arrest only 40 percent of the suspects,” she says.

Last month, a woman was gang raped by train staff aboard the Bahauddin Zakariya Express.

“The growing incidence of violence against women, particularly in remote areas corroborates Pakistan’s global ranking for violence against women. Sexual, physical violence, harassment and abuse are the result of a poor law and order situation, particularly in remote areas,” says Shahyista Bokhari. Bokhari heads the Women Rights Association in south Punjab.

Pakistan was placed 164 out of 167 countries in the 2019 Women, Peace and Security Index prepared by the Oslo-based International Peace Research Institute.

The writer is bureau chief of The News in Multan. He can be reached at trisign69@yahoo.com