London, September 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Pakistan has witnessed a concerning rise in sexual violence against women, with Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, recording 1,180 sexual assault cases during the first eight months of this year, according to a report.
Amid growing concerns over women’s safety, a 20-year-old woman from Azerbaijan was allegedly drugged and gang-raped by three men at an apartment in Lahore while she was on a business trip to Pakistan.
According to her police complaint, the woman, a resident of Baku, was allegedly assaulted on Saturday in the Defence Housing Authority area of Raiwind. A report in British daily The Independent stated that two women had invited her to dinner at a local restaurant, where they were later joined by three men.
The woman alleged that the men offered to drop her and the two women home but instead took them to an unidentified flat. She claimed that she was drugged and gang-raped before being abandoned near the Ghazi Interchange. The suspects allegedly took her mobile phone and other valuables.
She further alleged that the men were friends of the women who had invited her to dinner and were already present at the restaurant when she arrived. The woman told police that she could identify the suspects by their faces, the report said.
The incident comes amid other reported cases of sexual violence involving foreign women in Lahore. In July, two foreign women, one from the Netherlands and the other from Venezuela, were allegedly abducted and raped in the same area. Police rescued them after around two hours and subsequently arrested four men suspected of involvement.
According to The Independent, the women had travelled to Pakistan at the invitation of Muhammad Raza Dar, the alleged prime suspect. They claimed that Dar and his accomplices abducted them on June 29, threatened and extorted them, and subjected them to sexual assault.
Recent reports have highlighted concerns over sexual violence against women in Pakistan, raising questions about the effectiveness of institutions tasked with ensuring their safety. Reported incidents include sexual assault, rape, torture and killings involving perpetrators from different educational and social backgrounds.
In another case, a 45-year-old woman was found dead at her residence in Rawalpindi on August 20, with signs of torture on her body. According to Australia-based publication Pearls and Irritations, her husband, Faisal Asghar Imam, a university medical professor and domestic worker, was arrested in connection with the domestic abuse case.
Pakistani writer and researcher Anam Zahra has also raised concerns about violence against women, citing the case of Dr Mahnoor Nasir, who was allegedly attacked with acid inside Sandeman Provincial Hospital in Quetta after rejecting a man’s advances. The attack left her with severe burns and drew attention to safety concerns for professional women, including in workplaces intended to provide protection.
Zahra wrote that the reported increase in crimes against women reflected the growing threats they face in Pakistan, including in spaces where they should be able to feel safe.
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