Lahore (TIP): Two teenage girls were allegedly gang-raped by seven men in Lahore, sparking outrage over increase in sexual assault cases in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

The Opposition has demanded resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for his failure to control sexual assault on women in the province of 110-million.

According to the FIR, two female cousins – aged 18 and 16 – had gone from their residence in Shahdara to Fazal Park in the city on a rickshaw on September 1 evening to pick clothes from the house of a customer for sewing. “On their way, some men abducted the girls at gunpoint and took them to a nearby area of a factory and drugged them. The culprits raped the girls throughout the night and fled in the morning,” the FIR says.

The girls called on police emergency number and narrated their ordeal.

On the statements of the victims, Lahore police claim to have arrested all seven suspected rapists including the factory owner. They have been booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Meanwhile, police are conducting the medico-legal of the victims.

Punjab has witnessed an increase in the number of women assault incidents in recent weeks.

The sexual assault of a YouTuber girl on August 14 at the historic Minar-i-Pakistan sparked nationwide outrage and drew international condemnation.

Police had registered a case on Tuesday against 400 unidentified men for assaulting the girl and her companions. Police have arrested 160 suspects so far in this case after identifying them through video footages.  PTI