Video of woman shaming harasser goes viral

Police have registered a case of the incident and will present a report in court

KARACHI: A video of a woman shaming a motorist for allegedly harassing her in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area has gone viral on social media.

The incident took place on December 15, at 5pm on Khayaban-e- Ittehad.

When The Express Tribune reached out to the alleged victim, Hera Mannan, the 24-year-old said, "I was just about to walk to my car after doing some shopping when a car drove past me and after seeing me, took a U-turn back to where I was standing."

Mannan claims that as she approached her vehicle, the suspect, who has now been identified as Nabeel Moosa, slowed his car and asked, “Hi, can I drop you off somewhere?”



She continued, "I said no to this man and was just about to unlock my car and drive home but this man had the audacity to go on and ask me if I could give him my number."

The alleged victim said that she immediately began reprimanding him over his behaviour.

Moosa, however, continued to ask for her number, leaving her no option but to document the incident.

"I never filed a complaint against the harasser, but the Sindh Police took notice of the video and Moosa was called in for questioning," she said. “I was asked to come down to the police station to record my statement.”

Police action

Clifton Police Superintendent Suhai Aziz Talpur said they took notice of the matter after viewing the video online.

Talpur said the Additional Inspector General (AIG) Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh directed the South Zone SSP Syed Pir Muhammad Shah to proceed with the investigation.

She added that the police were able to identify the accused after carefully analysing the video posted on Twitter in which the car number was clearly visible.

Talpur further added that a case is registered under Pakistan Penal Code Section 509 (Insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment) due to which the police were not able to arrest the alleged harasser because it’s a non-cognisable offence and a police warrant for the arrest cannot be issued until the court’s orders.

The police will present a report in the city court today, said SP Talpur.
According to Talpur, “It’s a nice step taken by the girl to report this case of harassment and make it viral due to which within six hours, action was taken against the alleged harassers,” she said.

“We encourage more victims of harassment to report such incidents in order to put an end to them,” she emphasised.

Edit: The print version of this story stated, “Talpur added since it was a case is registered...”. This error has now been corrected on the web.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2018.

Nobody has the right to randomly stop, ask to drop you and insist for your number. Whatever your gender maybe, fight harrassers in the bravest way you can.

BCK 966, Toyota Corolla. Shame to this man roaming the streets of Ittehad Commercial, Karachi.

Twitter, do your thing! pic.twitter.com/pSksonNbr2

— The Mewly Weds! (@themewlyweds) December 15, 2018

Guys, this is unbelievable. I could cry. SP Sohai called me and action was taken. THEY ARRESTED HIM. I'M GOING TO GIVE MY STATEMENT TOMORROW.

Next time somebody asks you what difference your little "tweet" can make, you show them this. Thank you for all your support. Baby steps. pic.twitter.com/Hpc2ttdKrS

— The Mewly Weds! (@themewlyweds) December 15, 2018