Zubair Qureshi
The Islamabad Police, probing the couple harassment case, have added a number of sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to the case including rape, sexual abuse, extortion, and wrongful confinement as the investigation progresses.
The FIR of the case was registered on July 6 on behalf of Sub-Inspector Syed Asim Ghafar, after which some of the suspects were traced and arrested.
The FIR said the incident took place within Golra police station limits at an apartment building in sector E-11/2.
The case was registered under section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 354A (assault or use of criminal force to woman and stripping her of her clothes), 506 (ii) (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the PPC.
In the latest development, the Police Deputy Inspector General (Operations), Afzal Kausar, said in a statement that sections of the PPC had been added to the case.
These include Section 375-A, 375-D (rape), 384 (punishment for extortion), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), 395 (punish-ment for dacoity); 496-A (enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a woman) and 377-B (sexual abuse).
DIG Kausar said six suspects have been detained in the case so far, while two are yet to be arrested.
He added that the statements of the couple have also been recorded. During the presser, the DIG clarified that the new sections added to the FIR pertained to forcing the couple to indulge in an immoral act in front of everyone.
“Some TV channels linked the new sections with confirmation of rape, which was a misinterpretation,” he added.
The FIR, which was earlier registered, said “the video of the incident went viral on social media. in which five to six men can be seen keeping the victims in custody under gunpoint.
The accused also stripped the man and the woman naked while threatening them,” the FIR had said, adding that the suspects were also performing “vulgar acts”.
One clip of the video showed a group of men with weapons, led by Usman, threatening the boy and the girl with physical harm forcing them to engage in sexual activity.
