A female sub-inspector who serves as a gender crime officer in Punjab's Muzaffargarh district was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by a man who also tried to sexually assault her, it emerged on Sunday.

Police have arrested a suspect and registered a case against him under rape and criminal intimidation charges.

According to the first information report (FIR) of the incident registered on the victim's complaint, the sub-inspector, who is currently deputed as a gender crime officer at the City Circle police office, was called to the police station to deal with a gender crime-related case at around 12:45pm on Saturday.

When she got off a rickshaw outside her office, she saw a suspect who had previously harassed her through mobile calls and messages waiting next to his car on the main road.

The suspect forced the complainant to sit in the car on gunpoint and took her to a deserted area with bushes and trees near Chaman Bypass. Here, he repeatedly tried to rape the sub-inspector by threatening her with his pistol and a knife, and when she resisted, he beat her up and threatened to kill her, the FIR seen by Dawn.com said.

Around 7-8pm, the suspect left the woman in the area and fled in his car. The complainant was subsequently rescued by her father and a cousin.

Police spokesperson Waseem Khan Gopang said the sub-inspector was shifted to Muzaffargarh District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in an injured state.

He said the suspect allegedly involved in the incident had been arrested and the car he used had also been seized.

City DSP Bakht Nasar Khan said the report of the sub-inspector's medical examination was awaited, while further investigation of the incident was underway.

The FIR against the suspect was registered under Sections 376 (punishment for rape), 496-A (enticing or taking away a woman), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for shorter terms) and 506-B (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Punjab Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani took notice of the incident and directed the Dera Ghazi Khan regional police office to submit a report into it.

The incident comes amid renewed focus on violence against women in Pakistan, following the murders of Noor Mukadam and Quratul Ain in July and the assault of a TikToker on Independence Day in Lahore last month.