Pakistani police have arrested eight suspects, including a grandson of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, after a Dutch woman alleged she and a business partner were kidnapped, held for ransom and raped following a trip to Lahore arranged under the pretext of meeting crypto investors.
Pakistani authorities have widened their investigation into the alleged kidnapping and gang-rape of a Dutch woman and her business partner, arresting eight suspects in total after identifying the alleged ringleader as Muhammad Raza Dar, grandson of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar. The case has since triggered a political storm in Pakistan, with opposition figures demanding accountability over the alleged involvement of a close relative of one of the government’s most senior ministers. Both women have now left Pakistan and returned to Europe after giving formal statements to investigators.
From Business Trip to Kidnapping
The 35-year-old Dutch woman, from Zaanstad, had travelled to Pakistan with her Venezuelan business partner on 26 June, after being invited by Dar, who had promised networking opportunities with crypto investors for her company, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. The women said Dar met them at the airport and had arranged the visas needed for their trip. After several days in Islamabad, they were driven to an abandoned house in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, near the border with India.
It was there, the Dutch woman alleged, that the situation turned violent. “After fifteen minutes, four men came in aggressively with guns and ropes and tied me up with my hands behind my back. They screamed and beat me and my girlfriend,” she said in a statement shared with De Telegraaf, alleging that Dar himself pretended to be a victim of the attack.
Ransom Demands and Alleged Assaults
According to the woman’s account, the men who held them demanded escalating sums of money. “After hitting me for a few minutes, they said they wanted money. First they asked for 200,000 dollars, then 700,000, then a million, up to two million. I said I had no money. But he insisted, otherwise he would kill me,” she said. She said she was held in a downstairs bedroom, telling De Telegraaf: “A man with a gun was constantly touching my body. I had to send a voice message to my family to ask for money.”
Investigators are now examining whether the attack was motivated purely by ransom, or whether it also involved an attempt to gain access to cryptocurrency holdings and digital wallets linked to the women’s business. Dutch media report that the attackers transferred $17,000 via the Dutch woman’s phone into a crypto wallet during the ordeal, and that further threats and demands continued afterwards, alongside repeated sexual assaults.
A Prepared Escape Plan
The women had agreed on a code word before travelling in case they found themselves in danger, a precaution that ultimately helped alert others to their situation. “Fortunately, we had already agreed on a code word in case I got into danger,” the woman said. “They called the police right away. After that, I also sent voice messages to my friends with the same code word. That way, everyone knew we weren’t safe.” She said her hands were bound for the first twelve hours of captivity, adding that she had to be undressed by her captors to use the toilet.
Their escape came only after Dar began driving them towards the airport, having apparently been told enough ransom money had been paid, when his car collided with the vehicle ahead of him. The women, wary that they were not genuinely being taken to safety, seized the opportunity to flee. “We ran screaming into a garage. My friend had grabbed our passports and I our mobile phones,” the woman said. She called her parents to alert the police once more, and a traffic officer soon arrived at the scene. “He called the right people. The police arrived and we got into their car screaming, begging them to take us to the airport,” she said. Still struggling to trust the situation, the pair jumped from the police vehicle before a female officer was able to calm them and take them to a police station to record their statements.
Suspects Remanded as Investigation Continues
A Lahore court has remanded the arrested suspects into police custody while detectives continue gathering evidence, including digital material and records tracing the alleged ransom payments. One of the victims has since given a formal statement before a judicial magistrate, providing prosecutors with evidence to support the case as it progresses. Police say one further suspect remains at large, and efforts to trace and arrest that individual are ongoing.
A spokeswoman for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the department had supported the women throughout, saying: “We are providing consular assistance. Due to privacy, the ministry cannot comment further on individual cases.”
