The case is reminiscent of the gang rape of 33-year-old Mukhtar Mai, who last week won a court appeal overturning the acquittals of 13 of her attackers after drawing international attention to her plight by speaking out.

Gang rape victim 'forced' to flee Pak

Both cases involve a woman targeted to punish actions of one of their male relatives.

The latest attack occurred last week in the town of Chaniot when one of the suspects was angered over the youth's relations with his sister, kidnapped a married woman from the youth's family and gang-raped her with six other suspects, area police official Mahar Mumtaz said.

The seven suspects were arrested on Tuesday after police received a complaint from the victim's family, he said.

"The woman has told us that she was kidnapped and raped by seven men last week," he said.

Mumtaz said the lead suspect in the gang rape told police that his sister was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by the youth, but that an initial police investigation showed that the sister eloped with the young man to a nearby city last month.

Pak rapists face retrial

Police aim to question the sister and the young man to "know what was the nature of their relations," he said.

Mumtaz said officers will "determine who is right and who is wrong" and "send this to a court soon."

Violence against women is common in Pakistan. Hundreds of women are raped or killed every year in so-called "honor" attacks over behavior deemed inappropriate, including extramarital affairs or marriage without a family's consent.

Chaniot is about 250 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Multan, the main city in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province.

More reports from Pakistan