Lecturer among three arrested for ‘harassing student’

Victim claims she was distressed after suspects threatened her with ‘fake chat’

THEKRI WALA:

FIA Cybercrime Wing arrest three suspects after they allegedly harassed and blackmailed a student of Government College (GC) University Faisalabad.

The suspects included a lecturer of GC University Department of Communication. They were involved in blackmailing the student by allegedly making a fake chat on Whatsapp that included objectionable content.

According to FIA Cybercrime officials, the petitioner, a resident of Chandni Chowk, Ghulam Muhammadabad and a student of mass communication, registered a case which stated that her ex-husband Aamir Shehzad, a resident of Shahi Chowk, and a classmate Nadeem Khalid, a resident of Hameed Park B Block, together tried to prove my illicit relationship with a fictitious character named Najaf by attributing the objectionable conversation to me.

The suspects allegedly tried to defame the victim by sending the fake chat to her relatives including the student’s brother. The alleged fake chat reportedly caused distress to the student.

A team of FIA Cybercrime wing led by Sub Inspector Daniyal Javed and Constable Samar Abbas conducted a raid and initially arrested two of the suspects, Aamir and Nadeem, while they were travelling in a car. The FIA team also seized four mobile phones from them and launched an investigation.

During interrogation, Nadeem confessed that Ahmed Zuhair Khan, a lecturer in the Department of Communication at GC University, had fabricated all these fake and objectionable conversations.

Ahmed allegedly wanted to blackmail the student Maryam into having a sexual relationship with her.

FIA Cybercrime Inspector Sajjad raided Ahmed's house and arrested him.

FIA presented all three alleged harassers in court and obtained remand.

The petition for harassment against the GC University lecturer had been pending in the varsity’s Disciplinary Action Committee but was suppressed by the university administration for unknown reasons.

As per details available with The Express Tribune, female students of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) also facing harassment had reported the matters to their varsity’s administration, which tried to suppress the issue.

Afshan, a student of the Department of Zoology at UAF said, “The government should set up regular action committees to prevent such incidents.”

Ahsan, a student of UAF’s Department of History said, “In the current situation, parents are already afraid to send their daughters out. ”

FIA Inspector Sajjad said online harassment cases are rising alarmingly. “The cybercrime wing is playing its role in controlling these cases through timely action.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2021.