By Our Correspondent

Copyright dawn

TOBA TEK SINGH: The Faisalabad Kotwali police have booked 33 persons on Wednesday for allegedly kidnapping a girl who appeared before a court to record her statement regarding her court marriage without her parents’ consent.

Muhammad Raheel Imtiaz said in his complaint that he and his wife Iqra appeared before a court on Tuesday to get Iqra’s statement recorded regarding their marriage.

He claimed that after she recorded her statement in his favour, her father Sabir, her two brothers, four cousins, lawyer Aoun Sultan and 25 others, including lawyers, attacked the couple outside the court complex.

He claimed that they abducted Iqra at gunpoint and she was later recovered from the chamber of accused advocate Aoun Sultan.

Police were conducting raids to arrest the accused persons.

KIDNAPPED: A female student of a private college has been allegedly kidnapped by three unidentified persons at Gojra on Wednesday.

Asghar Ali of Chak 356 JB informed the Gojra City police that his daughter Tasneem (20), a student of BSc, was on way to college when three unidentified persons forcibly kidnapped her. Police were investigating the incident.

VISIT: Australian High Commissioner Neil Hawkins reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to supporting Pakistan’s agricultural sector, food security and joint efforts to cope with the effects of climate change.

A press release issued on Wednesday said that the high commissioner held a meeting with University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) VC Dr Zulfiqar Ali, deans, directors and alumni during his visit to the varsity.

He told the meeting that Australia was working in Pakistan in the agriculture sector for over 40 years. He said that close collaboration between the UAF scientists and Australia would help address agricultural and climate changes issues.

He said that Australia had been a key research partner for Pakistan due to its deep expertise in agriculture, livestock production and water management. He said that these expertises were directly relevant to the challenges faced by agriculture in Pakistan.

Mr Hawkins said that the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research was working closely with Pakistan for research and development, and capacity-building. He said, “We need to learn from each other’s experiences”.

He said that groundwater in Pakistan had been gradually decreasing and deteriorating, which was a challenge and the relevant policy after the introduction of solar pumps needed to be revisited.

Dr Zulfiqar said that UAF had partnered with Australia in 29 projects in mango, citrus, pulses value chain and other areas in the agricultural sector. He said that this cooperation had brought tangible results for combating different issues.

He said that the country was facing severe water issues, including deteriorating water quality, floods and droughts. He said that Australia had sophisticated water conservation and efficient management technologies and collaboration should be enhanced in this area.

ARRESTED: The Kot Shakir police arrested two men on Wednesday for allegedly gang-raping a girl after Jhang DPO Bilal Iftikhar Kiani took notice of a viral video of the incident in Haveli Haji Mahmood of Athara Hazari tehsil.

The mother of the victim, in her complaint, said that she came to know about the incident after watching the video. She said when she inquired, her daughter disclosed that she was on way to purchase flour from a grocery store two months ago when the two accused overpowered her and took her in a house. There, she claimed, the men raped her and also filmed the incident on a mobile phone.

They also threatened her if she told anyone, her video would be uploaded on social media, she alleged.

Police also took the mobile phone allegedly containing the video into custody.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2025