Information Minister Attaullah Tarar defends Deputy PM and FM Ishaq Dar’s alleged grandson in rape case

RATING JUSTIFICATION

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted an advanced keyword search along with a visual analysis to trace the original source.

Multiple users, most appearing to be pro-PTI based on past posts, have been sharing a comment attributed to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on social media platforms X and Facebook since July 3, 2026, wherein he defends the alleged grandson of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in a rape case involving two foreign nationals. However, Tarar said no such thing and the image featuring a quote attributed to him is doctored.

On July 2, two foreign women detailed a multi-day ordeal involving their alleged kidnapping, million-dollar extortion, physical assault and sexual abuse. The police booked five suspects over alleged abduction and sexual assault after the two women were rescued. Four of the suspects, including a close relative of a senior political personality, were arrested and later sent on a five-day physical remand.

The complainant-victim, a citizen of the Netherlands, provided her voluntary statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure following an investigation registered under a first information report (FIR) filed at the Defence C Police Station. The charges include severe offences under sections 375-A (rape) and 365-A (kidnapping for extortion) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

On July 5, Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran said that one of the suspects, identified as Mohammad Raza Dar, was believed to have links with the deputy prime minister. However, no credible source or official has identified the suspect as a grandson of FM Dar.

HOW IT STARTED

On July 3, an account appearing to be pro-PTI, shared an image on X, claiming that it shows Tarar’s statement on the case, in which he defended FM Dar’s grandson in a rape case.

The statement in the visual reads: “Raza Dar is young, such mistakes happen in youth. If he committed rape, it’s not the end of the world. If CCD (Crime Control Department) is letting off a few people, what’s social media’s problem?”

The post was captioned: “But this was the last thing I needed to hear. I told you, didn’t I, how shameless these people are.”

The post gained 42,400 views.

The same claim and visual were shared on Facebook, as can be seen here, here, here, and here; on X as can be seen here, here, here, and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to keen public interest in the case.

A keyword search was conducted to verify whether any credible Pakistani media outlets had recently reported Tarar’s comments; however, it did not yield any results.

An advanced keyword search on X yielded a similar post shared by Azaad Digital, a Pakistani digital media outlet, dated May 2, 2025. The image’s text, a quote attributed to the information minister, reads: “Omer Ayub’s grandfather was the president of Pakistan, and my grandfather was also the president, but there is more patriotism in my blood.”

The image has the same barcode as that in the viral photo. Upon inspection, it was found that the barcode featured an X post by ARY News, dated May 2, 2025.

The ARY News post featured footage from one of the channel’s talk shows, Khabar Muhammad Malick Kay Saath. In the clip, Tarar can be heard passing the same comments that were quoted by Azaad Digital.

“Omar Ayub’s grandfather was the president of Pakistan, and so was my grandfather, but patriotism runs in my blood,” he said, proving that his statement was made in an entirely different political context and bore no relation to Dar’s grandson or the recent rape case.

A comparison of the viral image with authentic Azaad Digital posts also revealed visual discrepancies. The font style and font size used in the viral graphic differ from Azaad Digital’s standard typography and formatting, suggesting that the viral image was digitally altered.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral image shows comments made by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in the defence of FM Dar’s alleged grandson and his alleged involvement in a rape case is false.

The viral visual is doctored, and Tarar did not pass any such remarks.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES:

May 2, 2025, Azaad Digital X post:
https://x.com/azaad_urdu/status/1918221423212150858?s=20

May 2, 2025, ARY News X post:
https://x.com/ARYNEWSOFFICIAL/status/1918028606267330749