CCPO Lahore Omar Shaikh blames victim for Motorway rape

(Karachi) Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Omar Shaikh has blamed the Motorway rape incident on the victim in an interview on Thursday.

Speaking to a private news channel regarding the incident, the CCPO said that the woman, a mother of three, left her Defence residence at about 12:30am to travel to Gujranwala.

He added, "I am surprised by the fact that the woman was travelling alone on the Motorway at night. She should have taken the GT Road route which has population on both sides."

رات ایک بجے گاڑی کا پٹرول ختم ہوا، رات 3 بجکر 5 منٹ پر پولیس کو اطلاع ملی، ایک گاڑی والے نے دیکھا خاتون کو گاڑی سے زبردستی اتارا جارہاتھا، ایس ایس پی انویسٹی گیشن اس کی تحقیقات کررہےہیں، سی سی پی او عمرشیخ#DunyaUpdates #DunyaNews #DunyaVideos pic.twitter.com/dTgrSKowVR

— Dunya News (@DunyaNews) September 10, 2020

Shaikh maintained the victim should have checked the fuel in her car before travelling as there is no petrol station on the Motorway.

The CCPO's comments were promptly condemned on social media for blaming the victim and putting the onus of preventing a crime on the victim instead of the perpetrators or law enforcement authorities.

On September 9, a woman was allegedly gang raped during a robbery bid in Gujjarpura along the recently inaugurated Lahore-Sialkot Motorway. The new Motorway currently has no rest stops or service stations as of yet.

Police said the victim was travelling with her children in a car when the vehicle stalled due to lack of petrol. She called a relative and sent him her location on the Motorway. When the relative arrived at the location, he saw the victim driving the car towards them with broken window panes.

The woman told police that she was waiting for the family to arrive to pick her and the children when two armed assailants allegedly attacked her.

One suspect hit the car with clubs and the other held them hostage at gunpoint. The attackers then took her and the children to a nearby forested area where the victim claims they gang raped her. Later on, they robbed her of valuables and left her stranded.

Meanwhile, at least 12 men have been taken into custody over their suspected involvement in the rape.