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Is it too late to report in Karachi?
Probably later than you think.
Karachi does have a deadline, and it is quoted in full below rather than summarised. It is measured against the law, not against how long you have been quiet.
Some of this comes from support organisations or published research rather than an official source in Pakistan. Sources are below.
the deadline in Karachi, quoted in full
No official source sets out a fixed deadline for reporting rape or sexual assault to the police in Karachi. Sindh's special courts are required to try rape cases within 4 months, with only one adjournment allowed. That concerns trial speed, not a reporting deadline.
We quote this rather than shorten it. A shortened deadline is a wrong deadline, and this is the sentence a lawyer would want to read.
2 different clocks
The exam window runs in hours. The deadline runs in years.
the exam window in Karachi
The forensic medical exam takes place at a government notified medico-legal centre. In Karachi that can include the Civil Hospital ARCC, staffed by a Police Surgeon's office. If you are a woman, a registered woman medico-legal officer should carry out the exam. No official source gives a fixed time window, but earlier examination preserves more forensic evidence.
This is the clock that runs out fast. You can be examined without deciding whether to go to the police.
the limitation period
This is the deadline for the case itself — how long the law gives before a prosecution can no longer be brought. It is usually many years for rape, and often longer or unlimited when the survivor was a child.
Missing the exam window does not mean the limitation period has passed. They are separate clocks.
where to report in Karachi
You can report at any Karachi police station. You can also go to the Anti-Rape Crisis Cell (ARCC) inside Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital. It is run through the office of the Karachi Police Surgeon. The ARCC offers legal aid, medical care, and psychological support alongside the police report. You can ask for a woman police officer to record your statement. Whether one is on duty varies by station.
if the deadline has passed
A closed case is not the same as no record.
If the period above has run out where you are, a prosecution may no longer be possible. That is the plain truth and we will not dress it up. 3 things are still open to you.
a timestamped report
What you write here is dated and kept. Years later, a record that existed before anyone asked for it carries weight a memory does not.
a sealed report that can match
Seal it against an identifier — a profile link, a phone, a workplace. Nobody sees it until someone else names the same person. Their case may still be inside the deadline.
a pin on the map
Publish it and the next person searching Karachi can see it. He stays an alias unless a court, the police or the press have already published his name.
Many countries also treat the clock differently when the survivor was a child, when the offence is ongoing, or when new evidence appears. A support organisation in this list can tell you whether that applies to you.
who can tell you today
People in Karachi who do this every day.
These are independent of Escrow. They know how the deadline is read in practice where you are, and they can also just talk.
War Against Rape (WAR), Karachi
Ministry of Human Rights Toll-Free Helpline 1099
sources
The deadline above came from one of these.
- Pakistan: information for victims of rape and sexual assault
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office · checked 30 August 2026
- Pakistan's first anti-rape crisis cell set up at Civil Hospital Karachi
Dawn · published 4 August 2023 · checked 30 August 2026
- War Against Rape
PakNGOs directory · checked 30 August 2026
other places
The deadline somewhere else.
If you were somewhere else in Pakistan, read the deadline for Pakistan. It covers the towns we have not written up yet.
This is information, not legal advice.
Nobody here is your lawyer. The deadline above is quoted from a source we read, and the date we read it is beside it. Laws change, and an office may read a deadline differently from the statute. For your own case, ask a lawyer or a support organisation in Karachi.
If something here is out of date, write to hello@escrow.nanocorp.app and we will check it and say when we did.
when you are ready
There is no deadline for writing it down here. A report on Escrow can be made years afterwards, and nothing happens until you say so.
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