ISLAMABAD: The capital police registered at least 132 sexual assault and 709 kidnapping cases in the federal capital from January 1 to September 30, 2026, sources told Dawn.

One of the cases, the victim was kidnapped, taken out of Islamabad and murdered in KP. Recently, a 26-year-old woman was abducted and subjected to gang rape in Gangal. The sources in the police said the victim was returning home from her workplace when the incident occurred.

“Some ‘vagabonds’ spotted her when she reached the Gangal stop late in the evening. They overpowered her and took her to the nearby wooded area and subjected her to gang rape and escaped.”

Later, the police were approached and informed about the incident. The victim was shifted to hospital for medico-legal examination.

Instead of registering a case and tracing the suspects, the police used delaying tactics on the pretext of waiting for the medico-legal report. The case was registered on Friday under section 376 of Pakistan Penal Code. However, the police sealed the FIR under the directives of senior officers.

Talking to Dawn, police officers on the condition of anonymity said that out of the total 132 sexual assault cases, 40 were reported in the Soan Zone, followed by 32 in Saddar Zone, 25 in Rural Zone, 20 in Industrial Area and 15 in City Zone.

One of the cases, three persons sexually assaulted a boy, nine cases were registered under section 375-A (gang rape) in which four boys, three girls and a woman were raped.

Forty-six cases were registered under section 376 (punishment of rape), three gang rape cases in which 34 girls, five women and three boys were the victims. A case was registered under section 376-A in which a boy was the victim.

Three cases of 376-B were registered, including one at gunpoint, in which three boys were the victims. The police also registered 34 cases under 376-C, in which 19 boys and 15 girls were sexually assaulted.

Seven cases were registered under section 377, including one at gunpoint, and four gang rapes in which six boys and one girl were victims. The police also registered 31 cases under section 377-B, including one gang in which 18 boys, 15 girls and a woman were victims.

Besides, out of the total 709 kidnapping cases, 200 were registered in Soan Zone, followed by 185 in Rural Zone, 181 in Sadar Zone and 72 in Industrial Area Zone and 71 in City Zone.

The police also registered 11 cases under section 363 in which nine girls, a woman and three boys were victims. A dozen cases were registered under section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) in which scores of boys and a girl were kidnapped.

The police registered 52 cases under section 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14) in which 32 boys, 23 girls and two women were kidnapped. The police registered 175 cases under section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) in which 170 males and 11 females were kidnapped. In one incident, a man was abducted from outside his house at F-6/1 and was later found murdered in Mardan.

A case was registered under section 365-A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property, valuable security) in which a male was kidnapped. The police also registered 341 cases under section 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her on marriage) in which 347 girls were the victims.

Besides, 116 cases were registered under section 496-A (enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a woman) in which 119 women along with nine girls and a boy were abducted. A case was also registered under section 396 in which a girl and a woman were kidnapped.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Operations Islamabad Ali Waseem was approached for comments on the kidnapping and gang rape incident in Gangal last week, but he did not reply.

Earlier, the DIG was approached for comments on 132 sexual assault and 709 kidnapping cases. He claimed that there was 100pc recovery in the kidnapping cases. Besides, he said police also registered kidnapping cases over incidents in which girls/women had allegedly run away from their houses.

He claimed that the majority of the rape incidents had been traced and remaining were under investigation.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2026