- Diana says earlier statement was made under pressure.
- Police say two arrested suspects implicated third accused in assault.
- Accused’s wealthy family “offered bribe to victim”: CM Maryam.
LAHORE: An Azerbaijani woman, who had accused three men of sexual assault in Lahore, has now retracted her claims in a new video statement, alleging that her earlier statement was given under pressure.
The victim, named Diana, had travelled to Pakistan for business purposes late September and was allegedly gang-raped by three men at a rented flat in Lahore’s Defence area.
In a recent video, Diana mentioned one of the suspects, Ahmed Tanveer, saying that he had neither raped her nor taken her mobile phone. She said she did not understand why police had arrested Tanveer, insisting that he had no connection with the alleged assault.
Diana said she wanted to record her statement before a court earlier but was told that her life was in danger and that she had been “forcibly sent out of Pakistan”.
“I was not given an opportunity to express myself or make decisions of my own free will,” she said, adding that she had also declared Ahmed innocent in documents submitted to the embassy.
Diana said she had forgiven Mohsin and Uzair as well and did not wish to pursue the matter further.
The video statement comes amid the ongoing investigation and court proceedings into the alleged rape case. The victim had recorded her account at the time of registration of the case, before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, alleging that three men had sexually assaulted her after she was made to consume alcohol.
After the fresh claims, Deputy Inspector General of Investigation Zeeshan Raza said the woman’s statement had already been recorded before a court and alleged that the video being circulated on social media was an attempt to influence the investigation.
He said the woman had accused three men in her judicial statement and that the two arrested suspects had also acknowledged the involvement of the third suspect, Ahmed Tanveer. He added that police would include Ahmed in the investigation and complete the probe on merit.
Separately, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said the government would closely monitor the case and revealed that the suspects’ wealthy family had offered the woman between Rs15 million and Rs20 million to withdraw her allegations, despite her statement having already been recorded before a magistrate.
In a post on X, CM Maryam also referred to the allegations that the judge who granted bail to an accused had “allegedly been bribed”, saying that, if proven, such claims would raise serious questions about the integrity of the justice system and the vulnerability of sexual assault survivors to financial pressure and the misuse of influence.
“I will continue to keep a close eye on such cases to ensure that no rapist or perpetrator escapes justice simply because he has money, influence, or connections,” Maryam wrote, stressing that justice must never be for sale and that nobody was above the law.
Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari subsequently said the provincial government would pursue the case on the state’s behalf.
Speaking on Geo News programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath”, Bukhari also confirmed the information concerning the allegation that a judge had accepted a bribe.
She said one of the co-accused had admitted in his statement that the other people nominated in the case were involved in the offence with him. She added that kidnapping and robbery charges had also been included in the first information report (FIR), alongside the rape allegations.
In view of the evidence, Bukhari said, it was not possible for the suspects in the alleged gang-rape case to be released, adding that the state would pursue the matter.
It may be noted that 22-year-old Azerbaijani woman had earlier told a magistrate that she travelled from Istanbul to Islamabad, then visited Faisalabad before reaching Lahore to continue her journey to Skardu.
According to her judicial statement, she contacted two women, Nimra and Muskan, after finding it difficult to travel alone. She alleged that, after meeting them, a man identified as Mohsin took her to a separate room, where three men sexually assaulted her after she was offered alcohol.
She further alleged that the men withheld her Rs200,000 in cash and iPhone, threatened her against reporting the incident and later left her by the roadside without her belongings, prompting her to seek help and contact police.
