Lahore tops violence against women in Punjab

SLAMABAD - At least 2,690 incidents of violence against women were reported in 36 districts of Punjab from January to June 2010 and Lahore took the lead with 458 such cases, said data available with Pakistan .The data added that other ten districts of the Punjab where intensity of violence remained high were Faisalabad with 393 cases, Sargodha with 161, Sheikhupura 157, Rawalpindi 139, Okara 134, Kasur 116, Sialkot 114, Sahiwal 88, Gujranwala 87, Jhang 76 and Multan 71 cases.Around 912 cases of abduction, 377 of rape and 373 cases of murder were reported out of the said cases while only 2,349 cases were registered in the respective police stations out of 2,690 cases, the data stated.The information further revealed that around 1,539 cases were registered in rural areas while the remaining occurred in urban areas of the Punjab during this tenure.Out of the total victimised women, 1,557 women were unmarried, 1,239 were married, 49 were widows and 41 were divorcees, the data said adding that 6 women were victimised in the province of Punjab on daily basis while 183 incidents of abduction were occurred in the district Lahore, 180 in Faisalabad, 69 in Sheikhupura and 68 cases in Sargodha and Rawalpindi district.Around 114 women became the target of violence over domestic dispute and 113 were murdered over allegedly illicit relations and in 115 cases, the accused were husbands, the data further stated.