The Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail to a co-accused in the Usman Mirza viral sexual assault video case involving a couple. IHC approved the bail of a co-accused in the case, Umar Bilal, against two bail bonds worth Rs1 million each on Tuesday.
Sher Afzal Marwat appeared on behalf of the accused while Hassan Javed Shorash represented the plaintiff. The IHC bench headed by Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the 16-page long verdict reserved on August 12.
The court maintained that the petitioner was not nominated in the first information report (FIR) nor is he visible in any of the videos, adding that the victims also did not mention his name in their statements before the police and magistrate.
Citing the report of the Punjab forensic science laboratory and statements of the victims, the bench said that the petitioner was accused of being present at the apartment gate when the incident occurred. However, he wasn’t visible in the videos that went viral and called for further probe into the matter.
The court stated that the incident took place on November 18, 2020, and the FIR was registered on July 6 of this year on the complaint of Golra SHO Syed Asim with a delay of eight months.
Read Usman Mirza, co-accused sent to Adiala till Sept 10
The verdict said that the victims did not lodge a complaint themselves, adding that according to the law, every citizen is obliged to report a punishable crime. It further stated it is not acceptable to justify that the victims did not inform the police due to fear and psychological pressure.
The verdict contended that incidents of abuse with minors were also reported and the courts gave exemplary punishments to the offenders.
The prime suspect Usman Mirza and seven other suspects are in Adiala Jail. Meanwhile, Judicial Magistrate Waqar Gondal has directed the police to submit the challan against the offenders by September 10.
Moreover, the IHC suspended the order of a justice of the peace for registration of an FIR against Azad Jammu and Kashmir senior minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan and instructed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to continue its inquiry into the matter pertaining to harassing a citizen.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case while nobody appeared on behalf of the complainant, Khawaja Faheem, during the hearing.
Deputy Attorney General Syed Tayyab Shah pleaded that the justice of peace had ordered the registration of an FIR against Ilyas.
He said that the allegation levelled by the complainant regarding the controversial video did not come as a crime under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2021.
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