Woman who alleged she was gang-raped in Lahore withdraws complaint

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The woman had earlier alleged she was lured into travelling to Lahore by a man whom she had befriended on online gaming platform PUBG. — Reuters/File
The woman had earlier alleged she was lured into travelling to Lahore by a man whom she had befriended on online gaming platform PUBG. — Reuters/File

A woman who had alleged she was raped by three men in Lahore after being lured into travelling there from Karachi has withdrawn her case, saying the first information report (FIR) registered on her complaint was the result of a "misunderstanding", it emerged on Tuesday.

The FIR was registered on November 28 at Lahore's North Cantt police station against three suspects on rape and abetment charges on the 18-year-old woman's complaint.

But a day later, on Nov 29, she recorded a statement before Lahore Cantt Judicial Magistrate Shahid Ali Khokhar saying: "I got the FIR registered against the accused persons due to misunderstanding. No one committed zina (rape) with me. I do not want to pursue the FIR [and] the same may kindly be cancelled."

Earlier, the woman had also declined to get herself medically examined.

In her complaint, the woman stated that she was a resident of Karachi's Quetta Town Society. She said she used to play the online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) during which she befriended a man named 'H'.

"He told me to come to travel to Lahore and said that we would get married," the victim said, adding that she arrived in the city on Nov 23 by train. She said 'H' took her to the Rose Hotel where he raped her for three days.

He also refused to marry her and dropped her off at the train station on Nov 26 and left, the FIR stated. The victim said that while she was waiting at the station, two men named 'W' and 'Ha' met her and promised to find her a job.

She said that the two took her to a house on Sarwar Road where two more men helped them take her into a room. The victim said that 'W' and 'Ha' then raped her several times, but she was eventually able to escape.

She had urged authorities to take action against all three men who had raped her.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had also taken notice of the incident and sought a report from the Lahore capital city police officer. He had also directed officials to arrest the culprits as soon as possible and assured the victim of justice.

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