Islamabad harassment case: Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against couple

• Judge expresses anger at the couple for not appearing before court.
• Couple's lawyer pleads with the court that both are out of city.
• The court, later on, adjourns the case's hearing till January 19.

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the couple in the Islamabad harassment case after it failed to appear for a hearing, Geo News reported.

Judge Mohammad Ata Rabbani conducted the hearing of the case and expressed anger at the couple for their absence. Consequently, he issued a non-bailable warrant against both the man and the woman and ordered the senior superintendent of police (SSP) to produce them before the court.

Meanwhile, the couple’s lawyer pleaded with the court and said that both victims are out of the city and it would take three hours for them to reach the court.

The court has adjourned the hearing of the case till January 19, 2022 (tomorrow).

The case

Last year in July, a video surfaced on social media in which the main accused in the case, Usman Mirza, could be seen violently thrashing and harassing a young couple in a room full of other men.

Within a few hours of the video going viral, the Islamabad police took Mirza into custody and registered a first information report (FIR) in the case.

Later on, seven people, including Usman Mirza, were indicted in the Islamabad couple harassment case.

The female victim retracts her statement

The female victim of the Islamabad couple harassment case had withdrawn her statement and submitted an affidavit to deny perusing the case further.

Previously, the statement of the female victim of the case was recorded in front of the magistrate in which she had said Usman Mirza and the other accused had "threatened to gang-rape her if she did not have sex with her friend while they filmed it."

The female victim had submitted a stamp paper to the court and said that “the police itself has created this case, neither I have recognised any accused nor have signed any papers.”

She further claimed that the police took her signature and thumb impressions on blank papers multiple times.

State to pursue the case

After the female victim withdrew from her statement, PTI's Parliamentarian Secretary Maleeka Bokhari tweeted to announce the federal government's decision to pursue the couple's harassment case on the state's behalf.

She said that the decision has been taken in view of the female victim's denial of recognising the suspects despite the availability of "irrefutable" video and forensic evidence.

"The State will pursue prosecution in the Usman Mirza case irrespective of recent developments relating to victim's testimony. Irrefutable video & forensic evidence on record- anyone harassing & stripping a woman must face the full force of the law," she wrote.