In a shocking incident of a woman getting raped in front of her children by two men after her car broke down around 1 : 30 in the midnight created huge outage across the world with the anger fuelled by a police officer who blamed the victim for the heinous crime that took place. The incident which happened in Pakistan has instigated protests across the country. So far fifteen people have been arrested in connection with the gang rape which took place by the side of a motorway in Lahore.

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The victim had called police when she ran out of fuel and also called her relatives for help. When she was waiting for the help, at least two men broke the windows of her car, dragged her and her two children out of her vehicle and attacked her and raped her multiple times in front of the children. They then stole her jewellery, cash and bank cards.

Disgust around the case increased when Umar Sheikh, the lead police investigator, told media that the woman should have known better than to travel alone at night. He reportedly said that no one in the society would allow their “sisters and daughters to travel alone so late” and she should have taken a safer highway and made sure she had enough fuel for the journey.

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Knowing that the victim is a resident of France, the police officer said that she thought Pakistan is just as safe as France. These comments from the police officer created huge outrage among the public people of Pakistan who stated that it is yet another example of victim-blaming in cases of sexual violence in Pakistan, where woman who report cases are often treated as criminals.

Shireen Mazari, the minister of human rights, said that the police officer’s comments are “unacceptable”. “For an officer to effectively blame a woman for being gang raped by saying she should have taken the GT Road or question as to why she went out in the night with her children is unacceptable & have taken up this issue. Nothing can ever rationalise the crime of rape. That’s it.” her tweet said.

For an officer to effectively blame a woman for being gang raped by saying she should have taken the GT Road or question as to why she went out in the night with her children is unacceptable & have taken up this issue. Nothing can ever rationalise the crime of rape. That's it.

— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) September 10, 2020

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Daughter of former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto’s daughter Bhaktawar Bhutto Zardari said that the temporary outrage in not enough.

Sickening to fathom reality when these are just the cases that were reported. Our religion is revolutionary for outlining women’s rights yet women are treated less than objects. The temporary outrage is not enough- cavemen sexism is embedded in society & needs educational reform. https://t.co/zgNBvmL23N

— Bakhtawar B-Zardari (@BakhtawarBZ) September 11, 2020

Prime minister Imran Khan reacted to the issue saying that he is closely following the case and asked the investigators to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. “Such brutality and bestiality cannot be allowed in any civilised society” he added.