Pakistan Buried-Alive Rape Victim Digs Herself Out of Grave

A girl in Pakistan had to dig herself out of her roadside grave after being buried alive by two men after they raped her.

The 13-year-old girl from the Punjab province was abducted by two men on her way to Quran lessons, India's PTI reports.

Her father told police about his daughter's abduction but they reportedly refused to cooperate with him.

After being abducted from her home in a village in Toba Tek Singh district, the girl was allegedly raped in a deserted area. The attackers, believing they had killed her, buried her in a grave on the roadside.

The girl then regained consciousness and managed to dig herself out of her grave. She then managed to raise the alarm by attracting the attention of a passerby, who helped her get to a health centre.

As police refused to investigate the attack, the Lahore High Court Chief Justice's Complaint Cell launched a probe into the allegation.

Child rape problem

The court directed the district and sessions judge of Toba Tek Singh to investigate the rape. Police have now been instructed to arrest the rapists and submit a report to the court.

A recent report in the Washington Post said Pakistan is struggling to cope with the problem of child rape following a case where two teenage sisters were raped and shot multiple times and left face down in a swampy canal.

Following a high-profile case in 2011, where a serial rapist attacked eight children, authorities began to work out ways to better protect children.

According to the report, several reasons have been put forward as to why child rape is a problem. Some suggest the country's Islamic school system has not reversed the former cultural belief that women are inferior, while others say some HIV positive men still believe having sex with a virgin will cure them of their disease.

Sahil, an activist group based in Islamabad, said child rape cases covered by the PTI from 668 in 2002 to 2,788 last year.

"We still think these statistics are just a fraction of what's going on," said Manizeh Bano, executive director of the group.