Alleged harasser files FIR against torturers

Police say polio worker attacker has rights too

RAWALPINDI:

The police have registered a case against the assailants of a man who was tortured by the locals harassing a female polio vaccinator.

The residents of Dongi Khoi area had tortured Irfan Fani, a rickshaw driver, and shaved his head and moustaches as a sign of insult before handing him over to the Jatli police for trying to enrage the modesty of a lady health worker. Both Irfan and the victim lived in the same neighbourhood.

Jatli Police Station SHO Muhammad Abbas told The Express Tribune that Irfan lodged a complaint against the incident after obtaining bail from a local court.

Asked whether the case related to harassment was fake, the SHO said, it had actually happened. The police officer said that they learnt during the investigation that the rickshaw driver, who used to give pick and drop service to the polio worker, used to tease her and she had complained about it to Irfan’s wife.

On the incident day, the suspect stopped his rickshaw and tried to physically assault the victim in revenge. However, SHO Abbas said, the locals instead of torturing the suspect, should have handed him over to the police. Even the harasser has rights, he said.

The officer said that Irfan, lodged a complaint with the Jatli police in which he claimed that he was tricked into the incident. The complainant claimed that he was beaten by over a dozen people and forced to sign an already typed confession.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2020.