Pakistani authorities on September 14 arrested a suspect in a gang-rape case that led to nationwide outrage after a police official appeared to blame the victim because she was driving at night without a male companion.

Hundreds of women staged protests in cities across Pakistan on September 12 after a woman was raped in front of her two children after her car ran out of fuel on the Lahore-Sialkot highway.

Punjab Province Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said one of the two suspects in the case, Shafqat Ali, had been arrested.

"His DNA has matched, and he has confessed to the crime," Buzdar said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, a senior police official said a manhunt was ongoing for the second suspect.

Following last week's incident, Lahore police chief Umar Sheikh faced an angry backlash and calls for his resignation after suggesting the rape was at least partially the victim's fault.

Sheikh apologized on September 14.

Rape is notoriously difficult to prosecute in Pakistan, where lapses during the collection of forensic evidence and shoddy prosecutorial practices contribute towards "abysmal" conviction rates, according to experts.

With reporting by AFP