Islamabad:Prime Minister Imran Khan has instructed authorities to provide him regular follow-up reports in the Usman Mirza harassment case and the Lahore Motorway rape case.
“These cases can be brought to a logical conclusion only be regular followups,” he said. “Protecting the rights of citizens is the foremost responsibility of the government.”
“In any case, the state will pursue these cases and bring severe punishment to the accused,” he added.
His statement comes a day after an Islamabad couple, victims of sexual harassment and abuse, retracted their statements and refused to identify prime suspect Usman Mirza.
At a hearing in an Islamabad sessions court on Tuesday, the woman refused to pursue the case and retracted her statements against Mirza. She said she didn’t know him.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Law decided that the State will pursue prosecution in the Usman Mirza case irrespective of recent developments relating to victim’s testimony.
“Irrefutable video and forensic evidence on record- anyone harassing and stripping a woman must face the full force of the law,” Maleeka Bokhari, parliamentary secretary on law and justice tweeted.
Usman Mirza, the co-owner of car business in Islamabad, was arrested when a video surfaced on the internet showing him harassing and torturing a young couple at an apartment in Sector E-11. During raids in the next few days, his accomplices were nabbed from different areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
