Man seen beating mother in video gets pre-arrest bail

A man, seen viciously beating his mother in a video posted on the internet which has since gone viral, obtained pre-arrest bail from a local court on Wednesday.

Rawalpindi police said that the suspect, Arsalan, lived with his wife in the Dhoke Ali Akbar area in Sadiqabad, separate from his mother.

The suspect along with his wife, Bisma, went to his mother’s house. There, Arsalan quarrelled with his sister and mother over property documents and cash. However, the heated argument between the two transformed into a fight during which the unempathetic son started abusing and beating his mother, Gulnaar Bibi.

A video of the incident was secretly recorded and then uploaded on to the internet. It caused outrage online and the video soon went viral.

Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sohail Habib Tajik and City Police Officer (CPO) Ahsan Younus took notice of the incident.

A medical examination of the elderly woman was carried out after which she complained to the police against her son.

Gulnaar maintained that Arsalan and Bisma periodically visited their house and quarrelled with members of their family. In this particular incident, Arsalan and Bisma argued with her daughter.

After the first information report (FIR) was registered, the police started conducting raids against the couple.

However, the couple managed to evade arrest long enough to obtain interim bail until August 6 from a local court.

The police, however, detained the suspects until they received written orders.

Later, in a video message released from the police station, Arsalan was seen apologising from his mother and that he felt ashamed at what he had done.

Sadiqabad SHO Tahir Rehan, where the FIR was registered, said that the incident was likely the result of a domestic dispute. However, he added that the reality will come to light after the investigation.

Meanwhile, Rawal RPO Mazhar Roy visited the victim and briefed her on the progress made during investigations. He said that the suspects will soon be brought to justice.

The Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Information Minister Fayazul Hasan Chuhan have also taken notice of the incident. The officials directed the police to ensure the victim is served justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2020.