Assault suspects flee as court rejects bail plea

Court terms act of forcibly cutting female TikToker's hair serious crime

RAWALPINDI:

Additional District and Sessions Judge Rawalpindi Ikram Haq Chaudhry rejected the interim bail of two accused, Musammat Sana Bibi and Jabar Khan, in the widely reported case involving the forcible cutting of hair of 15-year-old TikToker Iman Fatima over a business dispute.

Following the rejection of bail, both accused fled the courtroom after misleading the police, which stood helplessly with handcuffs inside the court premises and returned without making any arrests.

The court ruled that regardless of the reason, forcibly cutting a girl's hair is a serious offence and does not qualify for interim bail.

The court directed both accused to join the investigation. However, the accused slipped away minutes before the verdict was announced.

After the bail rejection, the defence counsel stated that interim bail would be sought from the high court.

During arguments, the public prosecutor maintained that the accused had not joined the investigation, questioning how they could claim innocence without being part of the inquiry. He stated that the victim's hair was forcibly cut, she is not appearing out of fear, and is being threatened.

The prosecutor argued that forcibly cutting a girl's hair and uploading the video on social media is cruelty and injustice, and cannot be treated as a minor bailable offence. The judge announced the verdict while both accused were already absent from the courtroom. Nasirabad police had registered the case on November 25 after the video surfaced, with the police acting as complainant.

One previously arrested accused has already been granted bail. According to the case, the female accused allegedly lured TikToker Iman Fatima from her home and took her to the main accused, where she was harassed, tortured and had her hair forcibly cut. Police raids are ongoing to arrest the main accused.