Cops suspect Layyah case linked to porn

Man claiming to be victim’s father arrested

LAHORE:

Police investigators suspect that a girl claiming to be a gang rape victim is linked to a gang involved in pornography using animals.

The local police arrested three nominated suspects in the case and expanded the scope of the investigation. They arrested Tajamul who wrongly claimed to be the father of the victim and obtained his remand from a court.

An investigator said the information gathered during the investigation had revealed that the 22-year-old girl who had claimed to be the victim and the complainant Tajamul who had filed the case as her father were a part of the gang. The police have arrested both of them.

The police also arrested three of the seven suspects nominated in the complaint, while raids were being carried out to apprehend the others. The girl had undergone a medical examination at Layyah District Hospital after a magistrate’s orders, following which the police had registered the case against Abrar alias Babar, Jafar Hussain, Shaukat Patwari, Saleem Alvi, Rana Naveed, Nadia and two unknown persons on the complaint of Tajamul.

The police also reportedly took into custody one of three animals allegedly used for pornography. The animals were owned by Tajamul.

The investigators said Rana Waseem, a resident of Chowk Azam, was the real leader of the gang that was involved in blackmailing girls with the help of male and female accomplices.

The gang produced porn videos with trained animals and sold them to websites, a police official said. At least 24 cases have been registered against the gang leader and his wife who has been in jail for nine months, while 17 cases have been registered against one Mazhar Abbas. The leader of the gang is also a proclaimed offender in a case registered in the city police station.

The official said Waseem has made a plan to free his wife, for which he had sent the girl to a court as a victim and named himself and some of the gang members as the respondents. Some video clips were also provided to the police and media as part of the plot.

The case in which the wife of the gang leader is detained was filed by a university student. Shaukat Patwari, who is nominated in the recent case is a relative of the complainant and the plan had reportedly been hatched to pressure him.

However, despite repeated raids, police failed to catch the main accused.

The additional IG of South Punjab is reported to have lauded the performance of the joint investigation team.

Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Assistant Syed Rafaqat Ali Gillani told The Express Tribune that the arrest and punishment of all those involved in the incident would be ensured and police would also take action to prevent such incidents in future.

According to sources, Farzand Ali is father of the complainant and they are residents of a village near Fatehpur. She had been residing with main accused for the past six months, went home for two days every month and used to send Rs35,000 monthly to her family.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2022.