Islamabad couple assault case: Four accused remanded to police custody

ISLAMABAD: Four men arrested a day earlier for assaulting and abusing a young man and woman in Islamabad have been remanded into police custody.

The main accused, Usman Mirza, and his two accomplices Hafizur Rehman and Farhan Shaheen Awan were arrested by the police after a video of the couple being assaulted sparked outrage across Pakistani Twitter, with #ArrestUsmanMirza appearing on the top trends.

The fourth accused named in the FIR was arrested later in the day, according to an update by the Islamabad police on its Twitter handle.

According to the police, more videos have also been found from the mobile phones of the arrested men. They were produced in court and a physical remand was obtained.

A case against the men has been registered at the Golra police station 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 Pakistan Penal Code, Dawn reported.

Islamabad Inspector-General of Police Qazi Jameel-ur-Rehman said that all culprits involved in the incident would be brought to light.

In the disturbing video, Mirza can be seen violently thrashing and harassing the young couple in a room full of other men. Old videos showing the accused's weapons also came to light later.

Mirza threatened the young man and woman when some people tried to stop him. He is a property dealer.

Islamabad SSP Operations Mustafa Tanveer told Geo Pakistan that initial investigation is under way currently and a special team has been constituted for it consisting of senior police officials