The Karachi Police on Friday said they had arrested the primary suspect allegedly involved in the gang-rape of a girl in Ittehad Town.

In a statement issued today, Keamari Senior Superintendent of Police Captain (retired) Faizan Ali said that the Ittehad Town Police had registered the gang-rape case a day ago.

He said the incident had occurred on July 1 when the detained suspect had forcibly taken away the victim on his bike to his dera (sitting place) in Ittehad Town, where he gang-raped her along with his friends.

“The rape survivor managed to escape from the place at night and reached the home of her maternal uncle and later on informed the police about the incident,” he said, adding that her medical examination was carried out at the Civil Hospital Karachi and a case was subsequently registered.

“The main suspect was arrested within hours after the registration of the case, while efforts are underway to arrest other suspects.

“Such beasts are cancer for the society and they will be taken to task,” the SSP vowed.

Despite the presence of laws such as Sections 375-A and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which prescribe life imprisonment or death for gang rape and up to 25 years for rape, sexual violence against women remains pervasive.

In May this year, a student was found murdered in a seminary in the Gadap area and an autopsy revealed that he was raped before being killed.

In February, a sessions court sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for raping a minor boy in a Lyari area.

According to a report by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), conviction rates remain dismally low, around 0.5 per cent nationwide in 2024 and under 5pc in other studies.

More than 500 women and underage girls were sexually assaulted in Karachi alone during the year 2023, which also saw 4,042 cases of physical assault on them, a police surgeon had told Dawn.com