Attempt to kidnap woman foiled at Sahianwala, say motorway police

LAHORE: Motorway police said a kidnapping attempt was foiled near Sahianwala on Sunday, after a couple of persons tried to lure a woman on to a bus with promises of a fake job.

The woman called the motorway police helpline after she got suspicious, following which the accused fled the scene, police added.

After taking the required measures, police handed the woman over to her family members.

Last month, two armed men allegedly raped a woman stranded with her children on the motorway before robbing her of money and other valuables, according to a police report on the incident.

The woman, a resident of Gujranwala, was on her way back to the city from Lahore's Ring Road at 01:30AM, when her car ran out of petrol near Gujjarpura around an hour later.

Read more: Girl allegedly gang-raped in Lahore hotel

The woman waited for her husband and phoned a relative for help, who advised her to call the Motorway Police. She subsequently called the Motorway Police's 130 emergency helpline for assistance, but was told by the operator that she could not be provided help as the emergency beat had not been assigned to anyone.

While she was stranded on the road, two unidentified armed persons are believed to have arrived on foot from a nearby area and smashed the window of her car, forcing the woman and her children out of the vehicle. They then cut through the fence along the motorway and raped the woman in the fields nearby in the presence of her children, the FIR of the incident says.

The woman had said that the men then deprived her of Rs100,000, jewellery and ATM cards before fleeing.

The incident stoked anger and triggered protests around the country, with many people questioning why the motorway police had been unable to prevent the crime from occurring.