Lahore CCPO issued show-cause notice over remarks blaming rape victim: Buzdar

Published September 12, 2020
Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said the CCPO had given an "irrelevant statement". — DawnNewsTV
Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said the CCPO had given an "irrelevant statement". — DawnNewsTV

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Saturday said Inspector General of Police (IG) Inam Ghani issued a show-cause notice to Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umer Sheikh over his remarks in which he shifted blame for on the victim of the Lahore motorway gang-rape victim.

Two ‘robbers’ allegedly raped a woman at gunpoint in Gujjarpura area on Wednesday while she was waiting for help on the motorway after her car developed a fault.

In his statement on the incident on Thursday, the CCPO implied that the victim shared responsibility for her rape. He claimed that the victim, who is a foreign national, thought it was safe to travel at night with her kids. He also said the victim was at fault for "choosing the route she took and not checking her petrol tank" before heading out.

Read: Motorway rape case: Twitter shames CCPO Lahore for victim-blaming

Soon after the comment was made on a TV channel, Twitter burst with thousands of users demanding removal of the CCPO with trending hashtags such as #RemoveCCPOLahore and #DismissCCPOLahore.

During a press conference today to announce major investigation breakthroughs in the case, Chief Minister Buzdar, who was flanked by the IGP and two ministers, said the CCPO had given an "irrelevant statement".

"The IG has issued him a show-cause notice [for this statement] and directed him to submit a reply within seven days."

Buzdar added that legal action would be taken against the CCPO after the submission of his reply.

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