LAHORE: Azerbaijani woman Diana Baghiyeva left Pakistan for Baku under a three-officer police escort on Sunday, Oct. 4. Authorities said the Azerbaijani Embassy requested security assistance. Her departure came after she reportedly refused to leave Pakistan voluntarily. The case has drawn attention to allegations of sexual assault, several arrests, her past marriage and her appearance inside the Punjab Assembly.
Police reports said three officers accompanied Baghiyeva during her departure, including a female assistant superintendent of police, Deputy Superintendent of Police Qamar Abbas and another female officer.
The departure came days after an incident at Lahore airport in which Baghiyeva reportedly refused to board a flight to Azerbaijan.
Airport reports said she had initially boarded the aircraft but later told authorities that she did not want to return home voluntarily and alleged that she was being sent back under false pretenses.
Authorities reportedly removed her from the aircraft and took her to the international briefing hall under security supervision.
The case gained wider attention after details of Baghiyeva’s statement to a court on Sept. 29 became public.
According to the statement, Baghiyeva arrived in Islamabad from Istanbul on Sept. 13. She said she then spent five days in Faisalabad before traveling to Lahore, where she planned to visit Skardu.
Baghiyeva said she was traveling alone and contacted acquaintances identified as Nimra and Muskan. She said she later met Muskan at a Lahore café. After they ate, she said a white car arrived and took them to an apartment.
According to her account, two men later arrived at the apartment, including a man she identified as Ali Zain. She said Nimra and another person, Mohsin, went into another room to talk, while Muskan later joined them.
Baghiyeva reported that Nimra took between 20,000 and 30,000 Pakistani rupees from Mohsin, saying the money was needed for a party. She said Mohsin later tried to touch her and that she was locked inside another room.
She said she asked about Nimra and Muskan and was told they had already left. According to her statement, she then asked to leave but was told she could not because her friend had taken money from the men.
Baghiyeva said she offered the men 30,000 rupees in exchange for her release. She alleged that Ali Zain threatened and blackmailed her before she was forced to drink alcohol. She further alleged that Mohsin, Ahmed and Ali Zain sexually assaulted her.
Baghiyeva also alleged that the men took her belongings, including about 200,000 rupees and two mobile phones. She said the men told her they would return her bag if she agreed not to report the incident to police.
According to her account, the situation later escalated when Ahmed and Ali Zain opened a car door and pushed her out. The case took another turn when information emerged about Baghiyeva’s previous marriage to a Pakistani citizen.
Reports said she married a Pakistani man in Rawalpindi on Feb. 12, 2025, and that a divorce document later surfaced. According to reports, disagreements with her mother-in-law led Baghiyeva and her husband to move to a rented home in Faisalabad.
The marriage later ended, reportedly after her husband raised concerns about her friendship with a man identified as Shabbir Ahmed. Baghiyeva later lived with Shabbir, who reportedly brought her to Lahore and introduced her to his friend Touheed Butt. The pair also reportedly spent time in Abbottabad before returning to Lahore.
Police have detained Shabbir Ahmed as part of the investigation. Several people have been arrested and detained in connection with the case. Police reports said Muskan, Mohsin and Ali Zain were arrested, while Shabbir was taken into custody for questioning.
More than 20 other people have reportedly been detained as investigators work to determine what happened and identify those responsible. The alleged main suspect, Ahmed Tanveer, had not been arrested, according to police cited in the report.
A case involving the alleged sexual assault was registered at Defence C Police Station in Lahore. The investigation also drew public attention after photos and videos of Baghiyeva inside the Punjab Assembly circulated online.
The images reportedly showed her posing in the assembly hall, on staircases and in other parts of the building.
The incident raised questions about how a foreign national connected to a high-profile criminal investigation was able to enter the provincial legislature.
