Seminary head files bail plea in assault case

Court seeks polygraph test reports of accused

RAWALPINDI:

Mufti Shahnawaz, a seminary principal accused of sexually assaulting and torturing a 12-year-old girl student at Jamia Tuba Ziaul-Binat in the Pirwadhai area, has filed a bail petition. The seminary principal is currently on judicial remand in the Adial jail Rawalpindi while co-accused in the case, Ishrat, is on bail.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Aijaz Asif approved the bail plea for hearing. The suspect’s lawyer Talat Mehmood Zaidi has maintained that the case against his client was fake aimed at defaming him. He said that his client’s career was unblemished and no such case had ever been filed against him in the past.

The lawyer said they were ready to comply with the court orders and conditions regarding the bail and the suspect will not escape.

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Meanwhile, the court has also sought a complete report from the JIT along with polygraph test reports of Mufti Shahnawaz, his alleged accomplice Ishrat and the alleged victim on October 5.

JIT members said that the polygraph test reports in the case have been received and they will be presented before the court at the next hearing.

Meanwhile, Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench has dismissed a petition seeking the cancellation of Ishrat’s bail. The application was filed by the victim’s mother Rubina Gul.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2021.