Police arrested a Qingqi rickshaw driver in Muzaffargarh on Wednesday on allegations of raping a teenage girl in the city's Mubarak Pur area a day ago, District Police Officer Tariq Wilayat said in a conversation with reporters.

The arrest comes hours after the first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the city's Khangarh police station on behalf of the teenage girl's stepfather under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, complainant Muhammad Ijaz told police that his stepdaughter, who is around 16 years old, left her maternal grandmother's house in a Qingqi rickshaw, also called a motorcycle-rickshaw, for his house around 1pm on Tuesday.

On the way, he said, the Qingqi broke down and so, his stepdaughter took another motorcycle-rickshaw that had arrived at the spot where the first one had broken down.

The complainant said all other passengers got off that Qingqi when it reached the Chaman Bypass, after which the driver took the three-wheeler to a deserted location.

"When [my] daughter asked him [why he was taking that route], he replied that he had to pick up some other passengers," the complainant said, adding that the driver later stopped the Qingqi at a deserted location near some bushes.

"The driver then forcefully took my stepdaughter behind the bushes and raped her," he added.

Meanwhile, the complainant continued, two passersby reached the spot after hearing his stepdaughter's shouts and subsequently, the driver fled with his Qingqi.

"My stepdaughter narrated the entire incident in the presence of witnesses," he said, adding that the driver had "committed the sinful act of kidnapping and raping my daughter".

The complainant asked the police to take legal action against the suspect.

The FIR also stated that the teenage girl was sent to the rural health centre in Khangarh for medical examination.

In other crimes to plague Muzaffargarh within the past 72 hours, a man was shot dead and two were injured when two motorcyclists opened fire on them for being stopped from harassing girls in Muzaffargarh's Khangarh locality.

Reports said a family was strolling in the morning when two men on a motorcycle came there and harassed the girls. Their father Abdul Shakoor, brother Ghafoor and Muhammad Hussain came there and caught a motorcyclist but the other man opened fire on them. Ghafoor died on the spot while Shakoor and Hussain were injured.

The injured were sent to the Nishtar Hospital, Multan. The Khangarh police registered a case.

On Monday, a man filed a criminal complaint after three robbers allegedly gang-raped his wife during a robbery at a fish farm in the area's Mauza Tabi Bhattian area.

The woman's husband had told the media that he was an employee at the fish farm of a local landlord and lived there along with his wife and children. He said that on Sunday night three robbers entered the farm by scaling its walls and tried to steal an electricity transformer installed there.

However, he said, the robbers could not unmount the transformer from the pole and barged into his house, where they took him hostage at gunpoint and gang-raped his wife in front of their children. He added that after raping his wife, the robbers snatched her earrings, collected some household items and fled.

The labourer said he had approached police soon after the incident, but police arrived five hours after he reported the incident to them.

Police officials who reached the farm collected forensic evidence and sent the rape survivor to a hospital for her medical examination.

Later, the Punjab additional inspector general had ordered DPO Wilayat to register a case of the incident, arrest the robbers and submit a report.

Opinion

Editorial

Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...
Terror and politics
Updated 29 Sep, 2026

Terror and politics

There is an urgent need to tone down the rhetoric and tackle terrorism as a collective challenge for both the affected provinces and the federation.
Watching the glaciers
29 Sep, 2026

Watching the glaciers

THE latest signs from Pakistan’s mountains are worrying. Suparco says the number of unfrozen glacial lakes it...
Dangerous agenda
29 Sep, 2026

Dangerous agenda

AS the world remains fixated on the US-Iran conflict, elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel is consolidating its grip...