Pak court indicts 8, including grandson of deputy PM Ishaq Dar, in gang rape case

A Pakistani court on Wednesday framed charges against eight suspects, including the grandson of deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, in connection with the gang rape of two foreign women, an official said.All eight accused, including Muhammad Raza Dar, Ishaq Dar's grandson, pleaded not guilty, the official added.“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,” the official said.Earlier, police in Pakistan's Punjab province had cleared Raza Dar and his four accomplices of charges in the case, instead charging three other employees of Ishaq Dar's grandson of raping the women.The victims were identified as Stephanie Adnana Mau-Arun of the Netherlands and Astrid Robinson Baracho of Venezuela.

They were allegedly kidnapped and raped by Raza Dar and his four friends after arriving in Lahore on a business trip in June. Medical examinations confirmed that the women had been raped.