Official convicted of harassment

ISLAMABAD:

The case concerning a harassment complaint that was filed during the Prime Minister’s Youth Talent Hunt Programme held in 2023 has reached its conclusion with the accused declared guilty.

As per the complaint and case details, the accused, Mubashir Mukhtar, who was the organising secretary of the Talent Hunt Programme had misbehaved with the complainant, Muqaddas Fatima, who was a tournament official at the event. The charges against him dictated that he had pushed her and torn a match sheet after snatching it from her.

The complainant approached the Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat for Protection against Harassment (FOSPAH) for relief and filed a complaint. Following investigations, the conduct of the accused was found to be dominating, demeaning and humiliating towards the complainant, especially in the context of the prevailing gender-based power dynamics.

To add to the severity of the situation, it was found that on the day of the event, the accused had forced his entry into the jury box with 4-5 unauthorised men during a women’s match, when the entry of men was prohibited in the room where the match was taking place.