LAHORE: Law student Khadija Siddiqui, who was stabbed 23 times by her class fellow, got terrified after some armed men reportedly opened fire at her car parked outside her Gulberg residence here on Saturday night.

She was inside her house when she heard gunfire and alerted her father about the incident.

Later, she found a bullet pierced into her car, a police official said adding that the law student called 15 to seek help.

Khadija has emerged as a women’s rights crusader after she was stabbed 23 times some years back by her class fellow Shah Hussain, igniting outrage across the country.

Following a prolonged litigation, the attacker was sentenced by the court for five years.

However, he was released from jail after serving three and a half years and since then she was feeling insecure.

Khadija told police about the Saturday’s incident that she was alone at her home when unidentified armed men resorted to fire outside her residence.

While submitting a complaint to the Gulberg police, she asked the police authorities for prompt action and arrest of the attacker(s) involved in the firing.

She criticised the Punjab government’s spokesperson Fiazul Hassan Chohan saying that he had promised her that he would himself got a criminal case lodged against the suspects if she was threatened. But he didn’t visit her residence after Saturday’s firing incident, she said.

Her father Ahmad Siddique told media persons that he was outside the house when the firing incident took place.

As soon as he rushed to the house, he found his daughter terrified, Siddique said.

“We received no threat since the convict had been released from jail,” he said adding that the Saturday’s incident, however, terrified him and his family.

Model Town SP (Operations) Dost Mohammad said the police had responded timely to the emergency call. He said the police teams and forensic experts inspected the crime scene and started investigation to trace the attackers.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2021