Four suspects sent to prison in foreign women kidnapping, rape case

A judicial magistrate on Friday sent four suspects, including a person linked to a senior political figure, on a 14-day judicial remand in a case involving the alleged kidnapping and rape of two foreign women.

The victims, one from the Netherlands and the other from Venezuela, had reported alleged abduction and sexual assault, following which police registered a case on July 2.

Police arrested the four suspects and initially obtained a five-day physical remand from the court on July 3. Their physical remand was later extended twice, with the last extension granted on July 13.

The suspects were presented before Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood on Friday after their physical remand ended. The investigation officer submitted a progress report and requested that they be moved to judicial custody.

The court accepted the request and ordered that the suspects remain on judicial remand for 14 days.

During the hearing, the state prosecutor opposed a request by one suspect’s lawyer seeking his client’s release from the case. The prosecutor argued that the suspect was accused of helping commit the alleged crime and destroying evidence.

The judge also observed during the proceedings that only one suspect was named in the initial First Information Report (FIR), while the others were arrested after being identified by the two foreign women.