The female victim of the Islamabad harassment case on Wednesday told the court that she was being pressurised to pursue the case further against her will, a private TV channel reported.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani conducted the hearing of the case during which the couple appeared before the court. A day ago, Rabbani had issued a nonbailable arrest warrant against the couple for not appearing before the court for a scheduled hearing. The counsel for one of the accused involved in harassing the couple requested the court to put the names of the victims on the Exit Control List (ECL), as he intended to initiate criminal proceedings against them. Counsel for the accused Umar Bilal Marwat testified the couple. Both were also prime witness in the case.
The female victim, who was humiliated in the viral video clip, reiterated that she was not the woman seen in the video. On December 11, the female victim had withdrawn her statement and submitted an affidavit to the court stating that she did not want to peruse the case any further.
The counsel then asked her whether she took bribe for submitting a sworn statement before the court, as it had been noted recently that an amount of Rs 17.5 million had been transferred to her uncle’s bank account in the Meezan Bank. She denied the allegation and said she and her family did not receive any amount from anyone. She also denied meeting any police official, or appearing before any assistant commissioner.
“The police obtained my signature and thumb impression on a white paper without citing any reason,” she said while responding to a question.
Testifying the second prime witness of the prosecution, Asad Raza, the defense lawyer said he was seen in the video as being beaten by the accused and asked which part of his body was the most affected.
Asad refused to respond to the query of the defence lawyer. He also rejected the accusations leveled by the defense lawyer that he and his wife received money from the accused for changing their statements, and categorically stated that it was his personal decision to submit a sworn statement to the court.
He also denied giving any statement to the investigation officer. The defense lawyer then informed the court that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) verified that the viral video clips were genuine and the voice and faces of the people appearing in the video were of Asad and his wife.
Advocate Afzal pleaded the court to put the names of the couple on ECL, as they were planning to flee abroad after making a mockery of the judicial system.
He also expressed his intent to initiate criminal proceedings against the couple, and the police officials concerned under 193 PPC, and 195 Crpc.
The court later adjourned the case till January 25. agencies
