Prime suspect in motorway rape case Abid Malhi has been arrested from Faisalabad, police said on Monday, adding that Abid is being brought to Lahore from Faisalabad where his DNA test will be taken.
The arrest comes a little over a month after the incident, that had sparked outrage across the country. The development was confirmed in a tweet by prime minister’s special assistant Shahbaz Gill, who said that the suspect will be punished according to law.
The news was welcomed by President Arif Alvi, who termed the arrest ‘a matter of national relief’. In a tweet, the president said, “An efficient trial of the accused and the ‘severest exemplary’ punishment possible under the law must be given to all those found guilty. Let everyone feel safe in Pakistan, specially our women & children”.
Last month, two robbers on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway had gang-raped a mother of two. One of the accused was arrested by the Punjab police but the main accused was on the run. The other suspect who allegedly raped the woman, Shafqat, is in jail on judicial remand.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB), Special Branch of police and other agencies had done a recce of the suspect and tipped off Punjab Police about the whereabouts of Malhi before they went to Faisalabad to apprehend him. Malhi’s DNA test had been obtained thrice from the motorway rape victim’s samples. However, his DNA test will be taken again and matched with the samples from the motorway rape victim’s before any formal proceedings against him are initiated.
The motorway rape case’s prime suspect had managed to evade arrest four times by escaping the clutches of the Punjab police ever since he has been on the run. Reports said a trap had been laid out for the motorway rape prime suspect, falling into which he was apprehended by police. Sources said Malhi’s wife was taken to Faisalabad by police after the suspect told her during a phone call that he would meet her there. When Malhi arrived in the city to meet her, he was nabbed by police officials in plain clothes.
Speaking to a private TV channel, Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz Chohan said that the provincial government would do everything in its power to make an example out of the motorway rape suspect. He said that without speaking to the motorway rape victim, the Punjab government had managed to identify the suspects within 72 hours. “No shortcomings will take place from [the government’s side],” Chohan said of the case.
He said that Malhi had managed to escape the clutches of the police due to detailed media hype and reporting about him. “Due to the media’s hype regarding the case, Malhi was able to receive reports about police looking for him and he managed to escaped police raids four to five times as he used to get information from his sources about the police,” said the information minister.
Chohan said that the Punjab police had “intentionally cooled down things” over the things and observed that Malhi had also relaxed over the past 10-12 days which ultimately led him to become less careful. He said that to hide details of the investigation from the public at large, he used to intentionally play down questions asked to him about the motorway gang-rape case during press conferences.
