PESHAWAR: The Additional Sessions Court on Friday sentenced five convicts, including Usman Mirza, to life imprisonment in sexual assault of a couple and making their immoral video in Islamabad’s Sector E-11.
The Additional Sessions Court judge Ata Rabbani ruled that Mirza and his accomplices – Ata ur Rehman, Idris Qayyum Butt, Mohib Bangash and Farhan Shaheen – have been sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 354-A of the Pakistan Penal Code for assaulting a woman or forcibly stripping her naked. Two accused Umar Bilal and Rehan were acquitted.
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The video of harassment of a boy and a girl came to light in July last year after which the Islamabad police registered a case and arrested all the accused. The video, which went viral on social media, shows a boy and a girl being abused by a man identified as Usman Mirza.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken notice of the incident and directed Inspector General of Islamabad police to supervise the case himself and bring all the accused to justice. During the investigation, it was also revealed that the main accused Usman Mirza and other accused had also blackmailed the victim girl and boy and extorted Rs1.3 million. According to the FIR, the victims were in Islamabad for a job interview.
During the hearing on February 1, 2022, the court was told that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) could not find out from which account the video was first uploaded. Javed Iqbal, counsel for the convict Usman Mirza had cross-examined the investigating officer Shafqat Mahmood. Member of National Assembly and Parliamentary Secretary Malika Bukhari was also present in the courtroom during the hearing on February 1. She later told the media that the state will pursue the case till its logical end.