Karachi (Pakistan), September 12: Amid the outrage over the gangrape of a woman on a major highway in Pakistan and Lahore police chief Umar Shaikh blaming the victim for being raped, human rights defenders have called the crime as heinous and barbaric. They have also questioned the administration's role in securing women in the country and sought Shaikh's resignation. Meanwhile, police in Pakistan have arrested 15 people believed to be linked to the rape.

Expressing anguish over the incident, veteran human rights defender Tahira Abdullah said, as quoted by Al Jazeera, "This is just the tip of the iceberg of violent crimes committed against women and girls which never get reported, especially in our rural." She went on to add, "It is a positive sign that this particularly heinous, barbaric gang-rape and robbery case is receiving a lot of publicity, which just might lead to concrete action." Pakistan: Sea of People at Anti-Shia Protest Jolts Karachi.

The outrage began momentum soon after Lahore police chief Umar Shaikh appeared to blame the victim for the rape and has stated that the woman should not have been travelling alone at that time. Human right activists are demanding Shaikh's resignation.

One of the activists, Khadija Siddiqui said, "Such statements from people in charge should start with an apology in failing to protect citizens of Pakistan." She also demanded an apology from Shaikh. He said, "They should apologise that women in this country have to suffer every day. They are complicit. Such people shouldn't be in these posts in the police sector where we expect them to be protectors of the state."

Following this, Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Shireen Mazari criticised Shaikh for blaming the victim. She took to Twitter and wrote, "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."

Here's Shireen Mazari's tweet:

According to reports, a woman was attacked by unidentified assailants on Thursday on the way to Gujranwala with her children from Lahore. The assailants smashed her car window before raping her in a nearby field. They also robbed her of cash and jewellery. Meanwhile, her children were made to watch the entire incident, reports local media.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2020 02:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).