SIALKOT: A girl has appealed to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to order police to arrest the suspects who had gang-raped her, warning of committing self-immolation in front of the CM House in Lahore if the suspects were not arrested at the earliest.

Four suspects had allegedly gang-raped a labourer’s young daughter in the building of a government primary school Pherowal after kidnapping her at gunpoint from her house in a village of Shakargarh tehsil a week ago.

Know more: The trivialization of rape in Pakistan

Talking to the media, the girl alleged the suspects had gang-raped her at gunpoint the whole night and fled away after considering her dead due to her bad condition. She said Shah Gharib police had registered a case under sections 365-B and 376-B against the suspects but did not arrest them for being politically influential despite the passage of a week. Instead of arresting the suspects, police were sheltering them, the girl added.

The alleged rape victim said the suspects were at large in the area and were continuously threatening her and her family with dire consequences to force them to withdraw the case. The girl said her own life and lives of her family members were in danger, demanding the chief minister provide them with security. Meanwhile, the resident of the girl’s village held a protest against the gang rape and failure of Shah Gharib police to arrest the rape suspects.

They chanted slogans against police, demanding arrest of the accused.

Shah Gharib SHO Shahid Dhillon said the police were conducting raids to arrest the rape suspects and that they would be arrested soon.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2014