Lahore court grants police five-day remand of four in foreign women assault case

LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Friday handed Lahore police five days’ physical remand of four suspects arrested in a case involving the alleged abduction and sexual assault of two foreign women.

The suspects were produced before Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mehmood at the Cantonment Courts by the investigating officer of Defence C police station. The accused appeared with their faces covered, and the magistrate directed them to remove their masks during the proceedings. The prosecution had sought a 14-day physical remand, but the court granted police custody for five days and ordered that the suspects be produced again on July 8 after completion of the remand period.

Police had registered a first information report on Thursday against five suspects under Sections 365A and 375A of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of one of the women. The case concerns two foreign nationals, identified in one report as women from the Netherlands and Venezuela. Four suspects were subsequently arrested, while police said efforts were continuing to detain the remaining accused.

Allegations in the FIR

The two women came to Pakistan after being invited by an acquaintance they had met in Singapore in October 2025. The complainant stated that on June 29 they were abducted by that acquaintance and four accomplices, who then demanded money for their release. The ransom demand was $1.5 million.

The complaint also includes allegations that the women were repeatedly sexually assaulted during their captivity, threatened with weapons, physically abused and extorted. During the hearing, the prosecutor told the court that the prime suspect had been identified by the victims. Prosecutors also told the court that one of the accused, Ali Dar, had been nominated in the case.

The four men presented before the magistrate were identified as Raza Dar, Hassan Raza, Sajid Ali and Sikandar Khan. Among the suspects handed over to police was a close relative of a senior political personality. However, police did not comment on social media claims linking a suspect to an influential political figure, and added that no such relationship was mentioned in the FIR or the police statement.

Police rescue and investigation

The case came to light after the father of one of the women, who was in the Netherlands, contacted the Punjab Emergency Helpline to report the alleged kidnapping. The statement said police launched an operation on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and used Safe City surveillance to trace the suspects.

The police statement said the two women were recovered in about two hours and four suspects were arrested. Investigators said the victims had undergone medical examinations and that further legal action would proceed in light of forensic material and other evidence gathered during the investigation.

The allegations against the suspects have yet to be tested in court.