Shepherd dies after alleged gang rape and robbery in Bahawalnagar

BAHAWALPUR: A young shepherd who was allegedly gang-raped by 12 men in the Cholistan desert within the limits of Marot Police Station in Bahawalnagar has died at Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), police said.

A police spokesperson said the shepherd was taken away on July 1 by a suspect riding a motorcycle from Toba Jinnawala near Chak 289/HR, where he had been grazing more than 40 sheep. Eight days later, on July 9, the victim’s brother, Mohsin, went to see him at Toba Jinnawala and found him in a critical condition.

The victim told his brother that 12 men had given him an intoxicating drink, sexually assaulted him and taken away his 40 sheep. The first information report named seven of the suspects. Mohsin shifted his brother to BVH and informed Marot police about the incident on July 15, after which a case was registered against 12 suspects.

The victim died of his injuries at the hospital on Tuesday. Police arranged a post-mortem examination at BVH. The police spokesperson said Marot police had arrested five of the suspects.

Other cases reported from south Punjab

In Vehari, a bakery worker, Habibur Rehman, who had suffered burns in a gas cylinder fire six days earlier along with 13 others, including three children, died at the burn unit of Nishtar Hospital in Multan. His body was later transported to Vehari.

Separately, Jalalpur Pirwala Saddar Police registered a case against a man accused of raping a girl at gunpoint in a mango orchard on Tuesday. The girl was moved to a hospital for a medical examination, while the suspect had not been arrested at the time of the report.

In another incident in Vehari district, police said two men allegedly abducted a 13-year-old girl from fields near her home early on Monday in Chak 251/EB. The girl, the daughter of a labourer, had gone outside when she was allegedly taken away. Gaggo Mandi Police registered a case against the two suspects, who had not been arrested.

Also in the jurisdiction of Gaggo Mandi Police Station, three people, including a woman, were allegedly assaulted by six suspects in connection with a land dispute in Chak 271/EB. Police said a case had been registered against Nadeem Jammu, Sarwar, Anwar and others, but no arrests had been made so far.