As many as 35 people were detained over suspicion of their involvement in attacking and harassing a woman at Minar-e-Pakistan.
An FIR was registered against 400 men at the Lara Adda Police Station in Lahore for harassing and looting a woman at Minar-e-Pakistan in what has emerged to be one of the more disturbing examples of violence against women and that too on August 14, the day Pakistan came into being.
The incident took place on the public holiday Saturday at the Greater Iqbal Park at the Minar-e-Pakistan monument.
The suspects were picked up during raids in different areas of Ravi Road, Badami Bagh, Lari Adda and Shafiqabad in Lahore.
Twenty suspects were released after the initial investigation, however, they have been told not to leave the area, the police said. Fifteen are still in police custody.
The police will check the mobile phone locations of all the suspects to determine if they were at the Greater Iqbal Park at the time of the incident. Their faces will be matched with the faces that are visible in different videos of the incident.
The CCTV footage shows that not a single police officer was present at the time of the incident. An inquiry committee is working to determine police negligence.
Minar-e-Pakistan incident
The victim said that she was at the Minar-e-Pakistan with her friends to make a video for her YouTube channel when suddenly more than 300 to 400 men attacked them. The victim said when she and her friends tried to get away from the crowd, the guards at the Minar opened the gate of the fence and they went inside.
The men jumped over the fence and surged towards us and started pulling me, the woman said. She said that they clawed and tore her clothes. She said that some men tried to help her but the crowd was so overwhelmingly large that they couldn’t do anything.
She said that the mob of men also assaulted her partner Amir Sohail’s friend and snatched his cellphone and Rs15,000. They even forcefully took off my gold ring and gold earrings, she said.
Videos of the incident surfaced later as many people present had cell phones and started recording the commotion. They show the woman walking with a crowd behind her before the men surround her. People can be seen raising their mobile phones to take videos and pictures of her and start pushing her around. As the scores of men surround her, the woman starts screaming frantically. As the video goes on, a man is heard saying “Azaan ho rahi hai.” The call to prayer had started to fill the air.
Another video shows men throwing the woman in the air.
The FIR was registered after the horrific footage of the woman being pushed, groped and thrown in the air went viral on social media.
Punjab IG seeks help from NADRA
Punjab IG Inam Ghani has said that photos of the men have been sent to NADRA for identification. “The case is being investigated on a priority basis.”
In a telephonic conversation with the authority’s chairperson, Ghani said demanded data such as addresses and phone numbers of the men be provided to the police. “Once we get all the information, we will be able to arrest the culprits.”
The Lahore Police has also issued an appeal to the public to help identify and arrest the suspects involved in the incident.
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