This American Blogger Was Showing an ‘Unseen’ Pakistan. Then She Was Gang Raped.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnj5n/ ... an-bloggerArabela Arpi, a 21-year-old American-German student at Duke University, North Carolina, describes her first visit to Pakistan as a romantic encounter: anticipation, exploration, and, finally, love.
“I first came here in 2019 to visit my fiance’s family, who live in Lahore,” Arpi told VICE World News over a Zoom call from Durham, North Carolina. “Travelling to Pakistan was unlike any other destination, where everything is catered to tourists. In Pakistan, people follow their own traditions, wear their traditional clothes and eat their traditional food. It’s culturally vivid.”
She was also aware of Pakistan’s image in popular culture, with news of security concerns, and being listed among the world's most unsafe countries. But Arpi, with an Instagram following of more than 23,000 and a prolific travel blog, saw a chance to go “off the beaten path” – mostly solo, and in areas foreigners can’t easily access. She also followed Western female influencers, who posted about travelling in Pakistan with comfort, safety and privileged access. This is despite a 2021 survey showing that 80 percent of Pakistanis think women aren’t safe in their own country.
On July 17, while visiting the city of Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Arpi said she was threatened, extorted and then “brutally” gang raped by two men she had befriended during her previous travels, one of whom filmed the act and threatened to leak it. A case of rape and filming obscene acts was registered by the Border Military Police on July 19. Arpi also said she was misled to believe she had permission to stay in the city, which has a history of militancy and usually isn’t included in the cities tourists can visit with their visas. A trial is underway, with one accused still at large.
