ISLAMABAD: The capital police on Thursday conducted raids in different cities of Punjab, including Lahore, to arrest the wife of a civil judge who reportedly severely tortured a teenage maid in the remits of the Humak police station, Islamabad.

A police officer told Dawn that the capital police initiated the investigation over the case registered by the Humak police and sent a team to Lahore and other cities to arrest the accused.

The investigation is being conducted by the relevant police station instead of the investigation wing’s Special Sexual Offence Investigation Unit under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021. The SSOIU has a mandate to investigate offences against juveniles under the act, he added.

The police team raided houses in Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Gujranwala to arrest the accused but it failed, he said, adding that the supervisory officers of the team were informed that the accused obtained a pre-arrest bail till August 1 from a high court.

Police said they have not received court orders about the bail as of Thursday night.

Following the information about the bail, the team was asked to move to Lahore and meet the victim and her family, the officer said, adding that in response the team met the girl and her family at a hospital, and their statements were recorded.

The police on their Twitter account said that a team under the supervision of the Sihala ASP raided Lahore, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala to arrest the accused.

The police through their social media account sought information about the accused from the public. The statement added the case would be investigated on merit.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2023