Cop allegedly rapes woman inside Lahore police station; entire staff suspended

LAHORE: The entire staff of Lahore’s Ghaziabad police station was suspended on Tuesday after it emerged that an assistant sub-inspector had allegedly raped a woman in the presence of senior officials on the premises on Sunday. The suspension was confirmed in a police record report, which is seen by Dawn. According to the report, over 70 personnel and officials have been suspended. Lahore DIG (Operations) Faisal Kamran also confirmed the development to Dawn, saying that the woman was allegedly raped by an assistant sub-inspector inside a room at the police station. He said the woman had identified the exact room where she was allegedly raped in the presence of senior police officials. “The room was located on the upper floor of the police station,” he said. The DIG said he suspended the entire staff of the police station because, according to police rules, all of them were responsible for keeping a check on any wrongdoing at the station. “No one bothered to enquire why the ASI had brought the woman to the police station in the absence of any female personnel,” he said, adding that a first information report (FIR) of the incident had also been registered. The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered at Ghaziabad police station on Monday under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code and 155-C of Police Order, 2002, which outlines penalties for misconduct by police officers. The FIR quotes the complainant, the woman’s father, as saying that his daughter, aged around 20 and mentally impaired, had left home in the afternoon on Sunday and did not return for a long time, following which they began searching for her. He said a man told him that a policeman, who was in civilian clothes, had taken his daughter away with him. “We then reached the Ghaziabad police station at around 9pm. But as soon as we reached there, my brother called and told me that my daughter had returned home,” he told police, adding that his daughter was crying when he reached home. When asked for the reason, she said a police official had taken her with him on a motorcycle and then raped her.