Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has raised serious questions over the handling of an alleged gang-rape case involving a 20-year-old Azerbaijani woman, accusing a judge of accepting a bribe to grant bail to the prime suspect. She has also alleged that the accused’s family offered the victim millions of Pakistani rupees to withdraw her allegations.
The case centres on Ahmed Tanveer, the main accused in the alleged assault. According to Maryam Nawaz, Tanveer offered the woman US$70,000 to withdraw the charges against him and two other suspects. The Chief Minister said the allegations raised serious concerns about the influence of money and power on the justice system.
The woman, a resident of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, arrived in Pakistan in mid-September on business, according to officials. Police said that on 25 September, two women took her to a café in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area, where three men later joined them. The men subsequently offered to drop the woman and her two companions at their destination.
According to the police account, the men took the Azerbaijani woman to a flat, where they consumed alcohol and allegedly gang-raped her. Two male suspects and the two women were arrested in connection with the case, while Tanveer remained on bail.
Police arrested Tanveer outside a sessions court in Lahore on Friday, despite the extension of his pre-arrest bail. Defending the action, Maryam Nawaz wrote on social media platform X that no criminal should be able to evade justice because of financial influence.
She said the accused’s wealthy family had allegedly offered the victim 20 million Pakistani rupees, equivalent to approximately US$72,000, to withdraw her allegations. The offer was reportedly made after her statement had been recorded under Section 164 of Pakistan’s Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Chief Minister also referred to allegations that the judge who granted bail to Tanveer had received a bribe. She stressed that, if established, the allegations would raise serious concerns about judicial integrity and the use of financial pressure to influence victims of sexual violence.
Earlier on Friday, Tanveer appeared before Additional District and Sessions Judge Rafaqat Ali Gondal with his lawyer. The defence presented a video statement from the complainant in which she appeared to withdraw her earlier allegations against the three accused.
The judge subsequently extended Tanveer’s pre-arrest bail until Tuesday. After the accused expressed fears of arrest within the court premises, despite being on bail, the judge directed the security officer to ensure his safe departure from the premises.
However, police arrested Tanveer shortly after he left the court. His associates reportedly resisted the arrest, triggering a scuffle between the two sides that left several people injured. Police also detained several of his associates.
Tanveer’s father accused the Punjab Police’s Crime Control Department (CCD) of unlawfully arresting his son. He further alleged that the department might kill him in a staged encounter.
The case has drawn attention to concerns about the protection of sexual-assault complainants and allegations of attempts to influence legal proceedings through money and power. The bribery allegations against the judge remain allegations and would require independent investigation.
In a separate case in June this year, four men allegedly sexually assaulted two women from the Netherlands and Venezuela. The grandson of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, was also reportedly implicated in that case.
