Lahore court judge Rafaqat Ali Gondal framed charges against eight suspects, including Muhammad Raza Dar
All the accused pleaded not guilty in the case involving two foreign women
The prosecution has been directed to present witnesses on December 9
A court in Pakistan on Wednesday charged eight people, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s grandson, in the gang rape case involving two foreign women. Muhammad Raza Dar and the other seven denied the allegations.
“Lahore court judge Rafaqat Ali Gondal framed charges against the suspects, who pleaded not guilty. He directed the prosecution to present its witnesses on December 9 so that the formal trial proceedings could begin,” an official said.
The case has drawn attention because of Dar’s family link and because it now moves towards trial after earlier shifts in the police case. The women had accused Raza Dar and others of abducting and raping them after they arrived in Pakistan in June on what was described as a business trip.
Earlier Police Action
Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province had earlier dropped the case against Raza Dar and four of his accomplices. The force then charged three other employees of Ishaq Dar’s grandson in connection with the alleged rape.
Victims And Trip
The women were named as Stephanie Adnana Mau-Arun of the Netherlands and Astrid Robinson Baracho of Venezuela. Police said Raza Dar and four friends abducted them and raped them after they reached Lahore in June.
According to the police report, the two women encountered Raza Dar in Singapore in 2025 and asked him to back their cryptocurrency business. After getting returns on his first investment, he put in more than $500,000.
The report said the women then did not send any more returns or pay back the money. In June, Raza Dar brought them to Pakistan, saying he would set up a meeting with another investor.
Detention And Escape
The visit began voluntarily. The women first stayed at a hotel in Islamabad and then travelled to the hill station of Murree.
They were later taken to a house in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority, where they were allegedly held captive and pressured to repay the money. As per the police report, they were forced to transfer $19,500.
The report said armed men kept watch over the women and threatened them with a knife, a gun and a broken piece of mirror. They also warned they would kill them and sell their body parts if the demands were not met.
The women got away after the car carrying their alleged captors to Lahore airport crashed. Medical tests later confirmed rape, and both women returned home after giving their statements.
