Pakistan Court Charges Ishaq Dar's Grandson, 7 Others in Foreign Women Gang Rape Case

A Lahore court framed formal criminal charges on Wednesday against eight men, including Muhammad Raza Dar, the grandson of Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, over the alleged kidnapping and gang rape of two foreign women.

Every suspect pleaded not guilty. Lahore court Judge Rafaqat Ali Gondal rejected defense pleas and ordered the prosecution to produce its witnesses on December 9 to launch the formal trial proceedings. The judicial move directly overrides an earlier maneuver by Punjab Police investigators, who had previously cleared Raza Dar and four of his associates while attempting to pin sole responsibility onto three lower-level employees.

Crypto Dispute and the Lahore DHA Captivity

The case stems from a June business trip that devolved into armed captivity. Court filings identify the two complainants as Stephanie Adnana Mau-Arun, a Dutch national, and Astrid Robinson Baracho from Venezuela. Both women had initially met Raza Dar in Singapore during 2025, pitching an investment opportunity in their cryptocurrency venture. Dar sank more than $500,000 into the enterprise after pocketing returns on an initial deposit, according to official police records. But the cash pipeline soon choked. The venture failed to deliver subsequent payouts or return the principal capital, setting off an escalating dispute.

Dar then lured both foreign executives to Pakistan under the pretext of introducing them to a new venture investor. They landed in June, checked into an Islamabad hotel, and initially toured the hill resort of Murree voluntarily. The trap snapped shut immediately afterward.

Armed escorts diverted the women to a private compound in Lahore's upscale Defence Housing Authority. Captors held both executives hostage inside the property, subjecting them to systematic extortion. Guarded round-the-clock by armed men brandishing firearms, knives, and jagged shards of broken mirrors, the victims faced constant death threats—including warnings that captors would kill them and traffic their harvested organs if they refused to return Dar's funds. Under extreme coercion, the women transferred $19,500 from captive accounts. During this unlawful confinement, Raza Dar and his associates allegedly subjected both foreign nationals to repeated sexual assaults.

The Airport Transit Escape and Medical Confirmation

Fortune intervened on the motorway. As their armed captors drove the two women toward Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, the transport vehicle crashed violently. The women slipped away from the wreckage, alerted authorities, and secured protective custody. Independent hospital forensic examinations subsequently confirmed that both victims had suffered sexual assault. Mau-Arun and Baracho recorded detailed judicial statements before magistrates before boarding flights back to the Netherlands and Venezuela.