Pakistan: 21-year-old woman gang-raped in Haripur Afghan refugee camp; five booked

A 21-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped in Afghan Refugee Camp No. 16 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Haripur, The Express Tribune reported.

Police on Saturday reported a brutal sexual assault. According to the First Information Report (FIR), the woman was on her way to the camp for work when the suspects dragged her into nearby fields, raped her for about two hours, and robbed her of Rs3,000 and a gold nose pin. She named the accused as Bacha, Nadi, Rozi Khan, Javed and Naseer, and said she was also beaten when she tried to resist.

Khalabat police have registered a case against all five under Section 375A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which prescribes death or life imprisonment for gang rape. The incident has sparked outrage among local residents, and the victim’s family has demanded exemplary punishment for the accused.

The UN refugee agency has reported that the expiry of the Proof of Registration (PoR) card grace period on August 31 has led to a sharp surge in Afghan returns from Pakistan, as per Dawn.

According to a situation report released on Friday, voluntary returns in August rose by 254 per cent and deportations by 191 per cent compared with July, coinciding with the launch of the third phase of the ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’ (IFPR).

As of September 4, a total of 531,700 Afghans had returned from Pakistan. Since April, more than 483,700 have gone back to Afghanistan, including 145,200 in August alone, with about 55,000 making the journey in just the last four days of the month.