KARACHI: As multiple harassment stories continue to surface, following the harrowing Minar-e-Pakistan incident, one was shared by documentary filmmaker and multimedia journalist, Sabin Agha.
Taking to Twitter today (Saturday), Sabin Agha narrated how she experienced a situation similar to that of the Minar-e-Pakistan incident, “a few years ago”, at Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi.
The journalist reminded that she was not a TikToker or a YouTuber. “I am not a TikToker or YouTuber. I am a journalist. I went to Mazar Quaid in Karachi for reporting on 14 August a few years ago. I was reporting, doing my job, not hurling kisses as this victim blaming nation is accusing that TikToker girl,” wrote Agha.
Some 100 odd frustrated boys & men attacked me & my cameraman at Mazar Quaid. My cameraman and his camera were shoved back & forth/ but I was manhandled. I was gropped on every part of my body. My hair were pulled from back & both sides. My cloths & duppatta wer pulled by men 2/
— Sabin Agha (@sabin_journo) August 20, 2021
Agha further informed that “some 100 odd frustrated boys and men attacked” her and her cameraman. “My cameraman and his camera were shoved back and forth but I was manhandled. I was groped on every part of my body. My hair was pulled from the back and both sides. My clothes and dupatta were pulled by men,” she wrote.
She added that of these men, someone even tried to wrap her dupatta around her neck to choke her, as others continued to grope her. “There were hysterical laughs and cusswords hurled at her all the while”, she said.
At one point someone tried to wrap my duppatta around my neck to choke me, all the while gropping me with hysterical laughs and every existing cussword hurled at me. When someone grabbed my arm & pulled me outside that mob of sexually frustrated boys & men.
3/— Sabin Agha (@sabin_journo) August 20, 2021
Agha also drew attention to how the police present at the site did not bother to intervene and stop the assault. Instead, they said to her: “Lady, we are but four men and they are 150 in number. How could we have stopped them? Why did you even come here?”
Recent episodes of harassment and violence against women have sparked anger and uproar in Pakistan. People from all walks of life, from common citizens, to politicians, to celebrities, have all condemned the incidents and demanded serve justice to the victims.