ISLAMABAD: Capital police spent the day trying to establish the identity and nationality of a foreign national, who was found bound and gagged on a roadside on Wednesday morning.

Police officials told Dawn they received information about a woman, who had been abandoned on the roadside in Sector G-6/1-3. When a police team reached the spot, they were faced with a young woman in her mid-20s.

She introduced herself as a Belgian citizen and told police she arrived in Islamabad around six months ago. She claimed that she had been living with a man and alleged that he had repeatedly raped her.

The woman was taken to hospital for medical assistance, where police attempted to get a statement, but were not able to obtain one.

Police also contacted the Belgian embassy, which reportedly had no record of such an individual travelling to Pakistan. They then referred police to the Netherlands mission, since the location she indicated as her native area is near the border between both countries.

Assistance was also sought from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), but they too seem to have no record of a Belgian woman of the given name having travelled to Pakistan.

The woman was unable to produce any identification as she had no belongings with her. She then led police to a residence in Sector G-7, claiming it to be the place she had been residing. However, the police said they found nothing there that could help establish her identity and nationality.

She also gave investigators the registration number of a vehicle, and police questioned the owner of the car.

Police said that a medical examination of the woman is being conducted in the hospital. She is able to speak both English and Urdu and seems to be in good mental health.

Dawn reached out to DIG Syed Ali Raza and SP City Arsalan Shahzaib, but neither was available for comment.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2024