Alleged harassers held after girl releases viral video

Karachi police chief orders registration of case against the two arrested

KARACHI: Two men were held on Tuesday for allegedly harassing a young woman and her family at their residence in an apartment building near Essa Nagri. The arrest was made after a video was released by M*, who is a school-going girl, calling on the public to help her bring the alleged harassers to justice.

Realising that her family would not be able to find an alternative accommodation immediately, M made the video in the hope to engage the public in helping her family.

After the video became viral, PIB Colony Police visited M's house to gather information and arrested the two suspects Awer Zahid alias Colonel and Younus Boneri, on the family's indication.

Later, Karachi AIG, taking notice of the incident, directed police to register a case against the arrested men and take measures for putting an end to such occurrences.

PIB Colony Police Station SHO Muhammad Shakir said that M's parents had been summoned to the police station for the registration of a case against the alleged harassers.I

n her statement, M had claimed that she and her family were consistently being harassed and troubled by men around there building for the past two years. She revealed that she and her sister had been subjected to unwarranted sexual advances as well as threats of harm to life upon refusal. She said that of the two arrested men, one had even slapped her younger sister a week prior to the release of the video.

M disclosed that following an injury to the head during an accident, her father had developed a mental illness and her mother worked to support the family financially. However, she added, during the current circumstance her mother could not do so with ease owing to the constant harassment faced by her and her sister. M maintained that the men had also threatened and misbehave with her mother right outside their doorstep.

She claimed that she had complained about these incidences on various platforms and had once even managed to lodge a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency after a long struggle. According to M, one of the two arrested men beat up her father when he and his wife were returning home after lodging the complaint.

She also accused the police of being the harassers' accomplices.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2020.