KARACHI: Police on Saturday claimed to have arrested a teenager for allegedly raping an American woman in her Defence Housing Authority (DHA) apartment.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza said the incident had taken place on Friday and the FIR was registered by the Darakhshan police on the complaint of the 49-year-old woman, a cardiology medical assistant in the United States who has been living in Pakistan since Nov 13, 2025.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed confirmed that the woman underwent a medical examination on Friday after being brought in by the Darakhshan police. “Her samples have been collected for serology and DNA,” she added.

The FIR has been registered under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code against the suspect.

According to the complainant, she is a permanent resident of the US and had been living in DHA since April. She alleged that at around 4am on July 17, the suspect was taking her home and she “agreed that he could have a drink” with her.

However, she said that a few minutes later, she woke up in her bed and found herself being sexually assaulted. “It took me a minute to become fully alert to what was happening,” the FIR quoted her as saying.

The complainant recalled that she immediately resisted, started screaming and struck the suspect, who then fled the apartment. She said she tried to chase him, but he escaped on a motorcycle. Shortly afterwards, a woman and her two daughters came to her assistance and helped her back to the apartment, the FIR further stated.

The complainant further alleged that the suspect later returned to her apartment to retrieve his cell phone. She said she again confronted him but he fled. She attempted to chase him but failed and collapsed on the street, “screaming in distress and trauma”. Subsequently, someone called the police and she was taken to the police station, the FIR further added.

Police said that the suspect, who is 17 years old, had been arrested and further investigations were underway.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2026