Zubair Qureshi
The government has decided to pursue the couple harassment case despite the fact the victim girl a day earlier withdrew her statement and refused to recognize the prime accused a day earlier.
Parliamentary Secretary for Law Maleeka Bokhari on Wednesday said the state would pursue the Islamabad couple harassment case “irrespective of recent developments relating to the victim’s testimony”.
There is evidence such as irrefutable video and forensic evidence on record. “Anyone harassing and stripping a woman must face the full force of the law,” she said in a tweet.
According to a senior official of the Islamabad Police, the government would now conduct a photogrammetry test of the video in which the primary accused Usman Mirza could be seen stripping and torturing the girl and would request the court to try the accused on the basis of that evidence.
A day earlier on Tuesday, the female victim in the case retracted her statement against the accused and told a trial court that she did not want to pursue the case.
In July last year, a video of four persons holding a couple at gunpoint, forcing them to strip and then beating them up had gone viral on social media.
We will make all-out efforts to take the culprits in the case to task, and have undeniable and solid evidence that will be presented before the court at the next hearing,” Bokhari reiterated in a statement issued after a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Law and Justice.
“Taking this case to its logical conclusion is the responsibility of the government and police,” she added.
“The video of Usman Mirza (prime accused) has been verified by the Pakistan Science Foundation, and we have photogrammetry (pertaining to the technique for making measurements through photographs) evidence, which will be presented to the court at the next hearing,” she further said.
According to the statement, the meeting was called on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan and chaired by Law Minister Farogh Naseem. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ahsan Younas along with senior officials of the police department attended the meeting and briefed the minister and the parliamentary secretary about the latest situation.
The Islamabad couple harassment case was discussed in detail in the meeting attended by Bokhari, Islamabad inspector general of police, operations deputy inspector general of police and investigation senior superintendent of police, the statement said.
It quoted Bokhari as saying that the authorities would try their best to ensure the delivery of justice to the victims, who would also be provided “comprehensive security”.Besides Mirza, six others were indicted in the case, namely Hafiz Ataur Rehman, Adaras Qayyum Butt, Rehan, Umar Bilal Marwat, Mohib Bangash and Farhan Shaheen.
