Fresh FIR lodged against women in Karachi's DHA flat scuffle case

Complainant says police entered her house, snatched her and her brother’s mobile phones, took them to police station

KARACHI:

Karachi police have registered a first information report (FIR) after a woman lodged a complaint on Saturday against her neighbours, alleging that she and her brother were assaulted during a dispute at a residential building in the city’s Defence area.

Last week, a video showing two women fighting while police personnel were present at the Khayaban-e-Bukhari flat had gone viral on social media. A case was registered at Darakhshan Police Station in connection with the incident.

The complainant said she was at home with her brother and mother on August 29 when “Madam Maryam called me downstairs to the ground floor”.

“After a while, Maryam came upstairs while hurling abuses,” she stated. “She started kicking our door.”

She alleged that when she opened the door, Maryam grabbed her by the hair and snatched her mobile phone. “During this, my mother was also assaulted,” she stated.

The complainant said that Maryam pushed her against the wall, "due to which I sustained an injury to my face.” The woman further alleged that police personnel were present with the women and attempted to take their phones.

Read: DIG South summons assaulted family, attackers in viral video case of Karachi's Defence

“She hit me with a dumbbell. Fearing these people, we ran into the flat to save our lives,” she stated. She said she called Madadgar 15 for help, after which police personnel arrived outside the flat.

“Meanwhile, police officers arrived at the door outside the flat and broke the camera,” she alleged.

“They entered the house and snatched my mobile phone and my brother’s mobile phone, broke the camera and then took us to the police station,” she stated.

The FIR, registered at Darakhshan Police Station, invokes Section 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), Section 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon), Section 379 (theft), Section 427 (mischief causing damage) and Section 337 (causing hurt) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The incident

The incident took place on August 29 at a residential building in Defence’s Khayaban-e-Bukhari, where a dispute between two women was captured on video.

The footage later showed police personnel at the scene, including officers dragging a young man away. An official Vigo vehicle was also visible outside the building.

The video was subsequently circulated widely on social media, bringing the incident to public attention and raising questions over the presence and role of police personnel at the scene.

A video of the injured woman, Noor-ul-Ain, also surfaced after the incident.

“My nose and mouth are bleeding, and there is also an injury to my eye. My hair has been pulled out,” she said in the video.

After the footage went viral, DIG South Asad Raza ordered an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the case.

Raza said the inquiry would examine why the case had been registered and establish the facts surrounding the incident. SSP Investigation South was tasked with conducting the probe.

Police said the challan had not yet been submitted and that sections relating to snatching and theft had been removed from the case.

Investigating officials also said a plain-clothed official seen in the CCTV footage was allegedly from Korangi Police and that the personnel visible in the footage would be questioned.

Read More: DIG South orders inquiry into viral video of women fighting in Karachi's Defence

The dispute had also reached the Sindh High Court (SHC), where the woman and her brother alleged that they had been assaulted but that police refused to register their complaint and instead registered a case against them.

During the hearing, their counsel Muhammad Arif said the siblings had approached police several times seeking registration of a case against the alleged attackers, but no action was taken because the opposing party was allegedly influential.

He said the siblings faced serious security concerns and had been unable to return home for 11 days.

The counsel said DIG South had subsequently contacted the applicants, assured them that action would be taken against those responsible and recorded their statements.

He alleged that the case registered on the complaint of the alleged assailant was false, illegal and based on an incorrect version of the incident.

The counsel maintained that the siblings had themselves been subjected to aggression but were subsequently booked allegedly at the behest of influential persons.

The SHC directed police authorities to protect the applicants and issued notices to the respondents for September 21.

SSP Korangi Fida Hussain Janwari had separately denied any connection between himself or his family and the women shown in the viral video. It had been believed that the women carrying out the assault were relatives of senior police officials.

“Neither my wife nor my sister is in the video,” Janwari said.

He described a social media post linking the video to him as a “disgraceful post” and said it had portrayed a girl of his daughter’s age as his wife.

“I will take legal action against those elements who circulated the video by associating it with me,” he said, adding that he had contacted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency officials.