In a significant development, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered establishment of a special unit in Punjab to investigate sexual assault cases.
Justice Tariq Saleem of LHC pronounced the decision on the petition of a woman victim of gang-rape in Sialkot.
The judge said many cases failed in courts due to poor investigation as no special unit had been formed in any of the districts under the Anti-Rape Act.
The court said it was necessary to have a woman police officer in the special unit and the importance of the woman police officers increased manifold in cases concerning children and women’s rape cases.
“There is an urgent need to investigate them like other criminal cases,” he said.
Justice Saleem said delay in sending the evidence to laboratory had weakened the case which benefitted the accused.
The court disposed of the woman’s application in the light of the report of the Sialkot DPO.
It may be recalled that the woman had challenged the police move to change the provisions of gang-rape to adultery in the case.
