According to officials, shopkeeper Mohammad Farooq of Sooraj Miani area of Multan, located 400 km from Punjab capital Lahore, informed police by phone that he and other shopkeepers had caught the two women while they were allegedly trying to steal some expensive clothes from his shop.
"When we reached the spot, the shopkeepers had tied the women to an electricity pole to make an example of them," Sub-Inspector Shafiq Ahmad said.
Ahmad said that the shopkeepers claimed five other women involved in the incident managed to escape.
As the women were tied to the pole, people photographed them and shot videos with their mobile phones.
Police arrested the women and registered a case against them.