LAHORE, July 22: Dacoits on Thursday gang-raped a woman in Begumkot in Shahdara.Complainant Muhammad Arshad told police that seven armed men stormed into his house-cum-dera where he, along with his married daughter and a son, was asleep.

He said the intruders thrashed him and members of his family when they did not find enough cash and valuables. However, they collected some jewellery and Rs800 in cash.

He said the armed men later tied him up and other members of the family, and two of them took his daughter to a room where they gang-raped her.

The gangsters, who allegedly committed the crime, seemed to be nomads, ASP Kamran Ahmad told Dawn. He said sketches of the culprits had been drawn with the help of the accounts given by the complainants to the police. "The operations and investigation police are making efforts to trace the culprits."

The ASP said the police were searching for the suspects by consulting their record, adding plainclothesmen had been deputed at the locality.

This is the second crime of this nature in a month. On June 27, a woman was gang-raped by robbers at Kahna. Police have failed to arrest the suspects so far.

The heinous crime took place in the city division police jurisdiction where the crime rate is high.