A mother and her 20-year-old daughter were allegedly gang-raped by at least 10 suspects at gunpoint in the Qaim Shah locality in Shah Jamal area of Muzaffargarh, DawnNews reported on Wednesday.

According to the victims, the suspects physically tortured them when they offered resistance, they also stole money and other valuables from the house, police said.

A first information report was lodged at Shah Jamal police station with the mother as the complainant, however, the police have so far been unable to arrest any of the suspects named by the victims.

The complainant said, "Ten people including Amir, Khizer, Asif, Kamran, Bilal and Imran sexually abused me and my daughter in front of my aged parents."

A spokesperson for the police said that the culprits are close relatives of the victims.

Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Owais Malik said police were trying to trace the offenders and vowed to arrest them soon.

Rights groups have frequently pointed out the increasing number of sexual assault cases against women in Pakistan. In order to curb crimes against women, Punjab government had opened a Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) in Multan last year.

However, rape cases in Pakistan mostly go unreported. Recently, police in Peshawar allegedly tried to pressure a transgender person into reaching a settlement after she claimed to have been gang-raped by nine men.

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