Police ready sketch of man who harassed woman on rickshaw in Lahore

• Police yet to catch culprit who harassed a woman on a rickshaw in Lahore.
• Two suspects sent for identification parade, police says.
• Police probing case further with help of CCTV footage.

LAHORE: Police have readied a sketch of the man who harassed a woman on board a Qingqi rickshaw in Lahore, as the authorities continue their search to arrest the suspect.

The sketch, which the police have prepared with help of the victim, shows the suspect as someone between the age of 20-25, sporting a light beard, thick hair and a long nose, while his eyes are presumably big.

The investigation officer, according to Geo News, said that the police are further probing the case with the help of CCTV footage. Two suspects have been sent for an identification parade, while a total of four suspects have been arrested.

The incident

A video showing a man jumping on a Qingqi rickshaw and forcibly kissing a woman during Independence Day celebrations at Lahore's Circular Road went viral on the internet earlier this month. The video triggered widespread anger and disgust on social media.

The clip showed the woman sitting with another woman, with a child seated between them, at the open back of the rickshaw. The women were visibly disturbed at the sight of a couple of motorcyclists hounding the rickshaw, catcalling, and leering at them, besides making obscene gestures.

As the video shows, one man jumped onto the rickshaw, out of nowhere, and forcibly kissed the woman. Startled, she and the woman beside her screamed, but no one intervened.

One of the women took her slipper off and threatened to hit a motorcyclist with it. The woman who was harassed, at one point, was extremely upset and tried to leave the rickshaw in despair but was stopped from doing so by her companion.

FIR registered

After the video went viral, a case was registered at the Lari Adda police station on the station house officer's (SHO) complaint.

The FIR estimates 10-12 "morally unrestrained" men on board motorcycles to have harassed the two women.

A case has been registered under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter term), 294 (obscene acts and songs), 509 (ii) (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 147 (punishment for rioting), and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Pakistan Penal Code.