LAHORE: The identification parade of 104 men, accused of harassing and groping a woman at Minar-e-Pakistan on August 14, has been rescheduled for September 1.
Last week, a Lahore sessions court had instructed the police to conduct the parade on August 28. It was delayed because the woman couldn’t show up.
She will now be taken to the Camp Jail at 10am on September 1. Magistrate Rizwan Ahmed, who had been initially appointed in-charge of the parade, recently contracted coronavirus. He will be replaced by another special judicial magistrate.
The court has instructed the superintendent of the jail to oversee all the arrangements. The police have, on the other hand, been instructed to ensure foolproof security.
On Saturday, the families of the suspects protested outside the jail. They said their children have been arrested without any evidence.
Since August 21, 104 suspects have been sent to jail for identification. the men were identified through geofencing and face matching.
The prosecution team has instructed the police to submit the statement of the victim and her friend in court, along with a list of men arrested so far. The police have also been told to keep the court updated on the identification process.
Supreme Court takes note of Minar-e-Pakistan mass harassment case
On Monday, the Supreme Court took notice of the Minar-e-Pakistan case. Punjab Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani submitted a detailed report to the Human Rights Cell.
According to the report, four special teams have been formed to undertake a comprehensive investigation. They have visited the spot and the victim’s medico-legal examination has been conducted.
All videos and 60 photographs have been collected and sent to NADRA. They identified nine men who have been arrested and with their help, a further slew of suspects have been arrested. This brings the total to 92 men, the report said.
Geo-fencing data has been collected with the help of intelligence agencies. More than 700 people have been declared suspects, the report added.
One suspect gets bail from Lahore court
One of the 400 suspects was, however, granted pre-arrest bail by a district and sessions court in Lahore. Shehroze Syed had filed a petition which was heard by Additional Session Judge Muhammad Saeed on Saturday. According to Syed’s petition, he wants to be a part of the police investigation but fears arrests.
And so, the court barred the police from arresting Syed till September 2. “The petitioner is a respectable citizen of the locality and has no previous record of such offence,” it ruled, adding that there is no incriminating material available on record to connect the petitioner with the commission of the alleged offence.
The police have been instructed to present the case challan at the next hearing.
