Lahore court indicts eight in alleged rape of two foreign women

A Lahore sessions court indicted eight suspects on Tuesday in a case of alleged kidnapping and rape of two foreign women, framing charges that each of the accused denied, and set December dates for the prosecution to produce its witnesses.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Rafaqat Ali Gondal framed the charges at a hearing attended by all eight, who were brought from judicial custody, Dawn reported. The court directed the prosecution to present its witnesses so that formal trial proceedings could begin. Dawn said the judge fixed December 9 for that step. The Express Tribune and Geo News both reported the date as December 10.

Geo News and The Express Tribune identified Raza Dar among the indicted. Geo News called him the prime suspect and said he is the grandson of a high-profile political figure. Dawn named none of the eight; it said one of them was reportedly linked to a senior minister.

According to the first information report cited by Geo News, the two women, one from the Netherlands and one from Venezuela, were invited to Pakistan by Dar, who had entered a business partnership with them in Singapore in October 2025. They landed in Lahore on June 29, 2026, on visas he arranged, and were allegedly taken at gunpoint to a residence in Y-Block, Defence, where they were assaulted and a ransom of $1.5 million was demanded. The FIR alleged the men threatened to kill the women and sell their body parts. Police recovered them within two hours of one woman contacting her father in the Netherlands, who called the 15 emergency helpline, according to Geo News.

The Express Tribune reported that the case was registered at Defence C police station under Section 375A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which covers gang rape, on the complaint of a 22-year-old Azerbaijani tourist. She told a magistrate in a statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that she had been lured, given alcohol and assaulted by three men in a private housing society near Raiwind on the night of September 25 and 26, the paper reported. She named Muhammad Ahmed Tanvir, Syed Mohsin Shah and Syed Ali Zain. Police arrested three men and seized a vehicle in September, according to the report.

The accounts differ on the complainants. Geo News described two women, from the Netherlands and Venezuela, and carried the ransom demand recorded in the FIR. The Express Tribune's report centred on a single Azerbaijani complainant and her Section 164 statement. The indictment of eight suspects is common to all the reports.