LAHORE: A man, pretending to be a religious healer, was arrested on Tuesday for raping a woman in Ghaziabad area of Lahore, the police said.
The complainant, a resident of Baghbanpur, started visiting the cleric after she got in a fight with her husband. “When our arguments started becoming a routine, I decided to visit the cleric about whom my neighbor had told me,” the victim of fake pir told the police.
On her first visit, the suspect, identified as Arif Baba, gave her six amulets and told her to keep visiting him every consecutive day. “The next time I went there, Arif Baba pushed himself onto me and raped me. He said that if I didn’t do as he said, the effects of the amulets would become adverse.”
The police decided to conduct the woman’s medical examination and have registered a case against Arif Baba under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The suspect has been arrested. Further investigations into the case have begun.
Rape is a punishable offence in Pakistan. The definition and punishment for this crime are detailed under Sections 375 and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the law, a man is said to commit rape when he has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the five following descriptions:
Against her will
Without her consent
With her consent, when the consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt
With her consent, when the man knows that he is not married to her and that the consent is given because she believes that the man is another person to whom she is or believes herself to be married; or
With or without her consent when she is under 16 years of age.
The convicted rapists will be sentenced to jail for no less than 10 years or more than 25 years, according to the law. A fine will also be imposed on them.
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