Sheikhupura man assaults daughter-in-law 'for not serving meal on time'

• Court asks police not to arrest culprit until Oct 18.
• Judge seeks record of case from police on same date.
• "We have reconciled," daughter-in-law says in video.

SHEIKHUPURA: An elderly man has physically assaulted his daughter-in-law for not cooking and serving the meal on time, as seen in a video surfacing across the internet.

As soon as the incident garnered traction on social media with netizens condemning the act, the local police took action, registering a first information report (FIR) — by itself — with the intention of arresting the culprit.

Geo News, however, learned from court sources that the man — named Muhammad Latif Rahmani — appeared in the sessions court to seek pre-arrest bail.

Subsequently, he was granted an interim bail by the Additional Sessions Judge Malik Muhammad Asif, barring the police from arresting him till October 18.

The court, meanwhile, has also sought the record of the case on the same date.

The incident, which took place in Sheikhupura's Jandiala Sher Khan town, came to the fore after its video began doing the rounds on social media.

In the now-viral video, a man named Rahmani is seen inhumanely beating his daughter-in-law with a rolling pin, while her four children tried to protect her pleading with the grandfather not to hit their mother.

Taking action against the brutality after tracing information regarding the perpetrators, the local police had earlier registered a case under sections 506, 292 and 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against the culprit and expedited its efforts to apprehend him.

According to the police, the victim is a mother of four children — three daughters and a son. Her husband currently works and resides in South Africa for work.

In another video floating on social media, the victim said her father-in-law beat her after she "misbehaved" with him.

"We had a domestic issue, which is now resolved, as we have reconciled," she said, adding that she will not take any legal action against Rahmani.

Upon contacting the Assistant of Sub-Inspector (ASI) and Investigating Officer Muhammad Mohsin, Geo News learnt that Rahmani is a commodity trader in Jhabran Mandi, where the police had conducted a raid for his arrest.

He, according to the police, was enraged after his daughter-in-law scolded her son — Rahmani's only male grandchild, whom he is extremely fond of. Therefore, he began to physically torture her using a rolling pin. He also slapped and kicked her.

The victim's children, however, kept begging their grandfather to stop beating their mother, but to no avail.

The video of the torture, the police said, was made by Rahmani's other son Abid, and his wife from the upper story of their house. He then sent the video to his relatives, after which it went viral on the internet.

The investigation officer said the police team was conducting raids to arrest the culprit, while Abid — who runs a quack clinic near his house in connivance with some health department officials — was being interrogated and under custody.