Pakistan: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar's relative among four arrested in gangrape of foreign women

The victims, identified as Dutch and Venezuelan nationals, were rescued by police after authorities received a distress call from Spain, where the father of one of the women reported his daughter missing.

The suspects — Ahmad Raza Dar, Sikandar Aziz Khan, Hassan Raza and Sajid Ali — were arrested on July 2 and produced before a judicial magistrate, who remanded them to five days of physical custody, Arab News reported.

Ahmad Raza Dar is reportedly a relative of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar.

"The allegation is of rape," Deputy District Public Prosecutor Nazar Iqbal told Arab News by phone following the court proceedings.

"It is a gang rape because multiple people were involved," he said. "Additionally, the victims were confined at a location where a ransom was demanded."

According to investigators, the two women had travelled to Pakistan after accepting an invitation from Ahmad Raza Dar, whom they had met in Singapore in October 2025.

Police allege that the women were abducted on June 29 by a group of men who demanded a ransom of $1.5 million for their release and repeatedly sexually assaulted them during their captivity.

The women were eventually rescued from Lahore's upscale Defence neighbourhood after investigators traced the suspects using municipal surveillance camera footage. Police told Arab News that the victims were located within two hours of the emergency alert.

Authorities said a fifth suspect remains at large, and the investigation is continuing.