ISLAMABAD: In an unexpected turn of events, the female victim retracted her statement and refused to identify the prime accused in the much-hyped Islamabad harassment and blackmailing case, involving a girl and a boy.
The case had surfaced when 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 last year in July.
Initially, an FIR was registered under section 341, 354A, 506 (ii) and 509 of Pakistan Penal Code. Later, sections pertaining to rape, sexual abuse, extortion, and wrongful confinement were also included in the FIR.
Islamabad’s District and Sessions Court conducted the hearing on the case on Tuesday, during which the victim girl retracted her allegations and refused to identify the accused including prime suspect Usman Mirza.
The victim in a statement before the court today said the police ‘concocted the scandal’ and expressed ignorance about the accused indicted by the court in December.
She claimed that she did not sign any documents related to the case and police official took her signatures and thumbprints on blank papers.
“I don’t want to pursue this case,” the victim said at the court. However, the judge adjourned the hearing of the case till January 18 and directed the victim to appear before the court again.
In an affidavit submitted to the court, the girl said the accused presented before the court were not “real culprits”. The victim added that she did not want any action against them neither did she identified them as accused before magistrate or police.
The incident had ignited widespread outrage online over the country’s longstanding problems with sexual violence, prompting a swift response from Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Qazi Jamilur Rehman who immediately directed SSP Operations Dr Syed Mustafa Tanveer to ensure the arrest of the suspects at the earliest.
The Facebook video helped the police team to identify the suspects and gather information about Mirza’s real estate office situated right in front of the flat where the incident allegedly took place.
