A teenage patient was raped by an employee of a hospital in Faisalabad, Pakistani media reported on Monday.

“An employee at Allied Hospital in Faisalabad allegedly raped a teenage patient on hospital premises on Sunday. The complainant, the patient’s mother, filed an first information report (FIR) with the Civil Lines police under section 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code that she brought her ailing daughter to the hospital for medical tests,” reported leading Pakistani daily Dawn on Monday.

According to the newspaper, the suspect took the girl to the labour room and allegedly kept her for three hours, administered an anesthetic, and raped her while she was unconscious.

The report mentioned that the girl’s mother found her daughter lying unconscious and, upon regaining consciousness, told her about the assault.

Pakistan remains one of the most dangerous countries for women with Lahore and Faisalabad reporting the maximum cases of violence against females.

According to a report released by Islamabad-based Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), Faisalabad emerged as the epicentre of a harrowing surge in violence against women, reporting 728 cases in 2023.

The report, released in March on the occasion of International Women’s Day, shed light on the escalating incidents of violence, rape, kidnapping, and honour killings against women in Pakistan, especially in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.

It disclosed that the total number of reported cases of violence against women in Sindh reached a staggering 10,201 in 2023 marking a disturbing 16 per cent increase from the 8,787 cases documented in 2022.

Similarly, Punjab faced a grim situation, with 10,201 reported cases of violence against women. Incidents of violence against women spanned all districts in Punjab, with Lahore reporting a distressing 1,464 cases. Following closely were Sheikhupura with 1,198 cases and Kasur with 877 cases.

Simultaneously, incidents of rape showed a disconcerting surge across the province. A total of 6,624 cases were reported in 2023, reflecting a 12 per cent increase from the 5,890 cases reported in 2022. Faisalabad took the lead as the worst-affected district, with 728 reported cases, followed by Lahore (721) and Sargodha (398).

The SSDO report detailed that Sindh also witnessed a similarly distressing surge in violence against women in 2023 with an average of 26 women kidnapped every week.

Similarly, four rape cases were reported every week on an average in 2023 from the province.

“Shockingly, an average of 13 women per month lost their lives in honour killings in 2023. Comparing 2023 to 2022, the figures showed an increase in honour killings (136 to 96), kidnapping cases (1,500 to 1,349), and domestic violence cases (350 to 346).