Owner of car used in Canadian model harassment taken into custody

Police confident in arresting both culprits involved in Islamabad incident at the earliest

ISLAMABAD: A car that was used in an incident of alleged harassment of a Canada-based international model and activist in Islamabad earlier this week has been impounded with its owner also taken into custody for interrogation, police officials said on Wednesday.

According to SP Rural, the suspect, aged between 35 to 40 years, is being interrogated to ascertain whereabouts of the two accused involved in Monday’s incident. He said he was confident that the two youngsters would be brought to book very soon.

Car taken in police custody from Lahore. PHOTO: EXPRESS

On Tuesday, police in the federal capital booked two unidentified men after taking notice of the incident. Police sources had said that the car used by the suspects was registered to a Lahore resident.



Asoomii Jay alias Assma Galuta, the victim who is known for her humanitarian work, is currently visiting the country to raise awareness about social injustices including Islamophobia.

PHOTO: SOCIAL MEDIA

She said that she was in an area on the confluence of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, waiting for her cab to go home when two men pulled up in a car and started cat-calling her and repeatedly told her to get in their car on Monday. When she refused, they followed her cab for the next two hours as she travelled to her destination in Islamabad.

A video she made of the men showed them trying to intercept her car and asking the driver for her destination. She had posted the video on the internet and it went viral.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=lhqkj83J3PE

Shaken by the ordeal and infuriated after some people started victim-blaming her, she stated in a video on Tuesday that she had complained about the incident to the police who only asked her to report the matter to a special phone number on which she received no response.

Then, on the suggestion of a follower, she posted a complaint on the Prime Minister’s Complaint Portal but that too did not yield a different result.

When contacted by Express News, Islamabad Operations-DIG Waqarud Din Syed said that he had no knowledge of the incident and asked to contact the concerned SP.

PHOTO: SOCIAL MEDIA

However, after the issue was televised on Express News, police officials sprang into action and SP Rural reached out to the victim and assured her that the suspects would soon be brought to book. He also directed the Sihala police station SHO to submit a detailed report within 48 hours.

Islamabad IGP Amir Zulfiqar Khan also took notice of the incident and directed to arrest the culprits. A first information report (FIR) of the incident was later registered against the two suspects at Sihala police station with charges of attempting to illegally confine, criminally intimidate and assault.