A girl in Gujranwala, who had approached the police for the registration of a case against at least two men who assaulted her, was allegedly raped by the assistant sub-inspector (ASI) responsible to serve justice.
According to media reports, the incident took place when the girl, along with her father, approached Aroop police in Gujranwala to lodge a complaint against two men who had torn her clothes while assaulting her on September 9.
ASI Mubashar was appointed as the inquiry officer to look into the matter. The cop, however, instead of initiating legal action against the accused, sexually assaulted the woman.
“He kept calling me ‘sister’ and raped me,” the survivor said in a statement, adding that it was followed by the force pressurising her family and her to not pursue the matter.
Having lost faith in the local police, the survivor’s family has now approached Gujranwala city police officer (CPO), who has reportedly ordered a probe.
While the victim and her family continue to allege that senior police officials are also trying to save the ASI, The Current has learnt that Cantonment Superintendent of Police (SP) Hafeezur Rehman has vowed prompt justice.
“The case will be investigated on merit and departmental action will be initiated against the policeman if he is found guilty of rape,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani has also reportedly taken notice of the incident and directed the officials concerned to submit to him a detailed report.
Medical reports of the girl were awaited by the time this report was filed.
A conference of the mainstream opposition parties, dubbed as the All Parties Conference (APC), was held Islamabad on Sunday to devise a unanimous strategy to oust the government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Addressing the conference through video-link, former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, who stayed in the background for more than a year, thanked Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for “love with which he spoke to him a day earlier”, saying he would not forget it.
“I am thankful to the organisers of the conference for giving me the opportunity to talk. Even though I am away from my country, I know very well what condition the country and the people are in. I believe this is a decisive turn; it is necessary to protect democracy […] and take fearless decisions,” he said.
In an all-encompassing address, which centred on criticising the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Nawaz spoke on the “poor state” of Pakistan’s economy, “deteriorating” international relations, “muzzling” of media and “corruption within the PTI”. Similarly, Zardari criticised the government in his welcome note for not “allowing” Nawaz’s speech to be broadcast, he said they showed former president Pervez Musharraf’s interview.
“The country’s leader keeps harping on about accountability but he himself is involved in raising sugar prices. Will no reference be filed against him?” the former PM asked.
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He also repeated the opposition’s allegation that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), with the connivance of PTI, was carrying out only “selective accountability”.
Sharif has been residing in London since November last year on the pretext of medical treatment and has since maintained a distance from political activities. His party insists that despite being summoned by the courts, who declared him a proclaimed offender in a corruption probe, the former premier will only return after the completion of his medical treatment.
“If we do not do it [take a step] today, when will we?” asked Nawaz. “I agree with Maulana [Fazlur Rehman, chief of JUI-F] that we need to make this conference purposeful or people will be disappointed.”
“Pakistan has been constantly deprived of a democratic system […] When the vote is dishonoured, the entire democratic system becomes meaningless. When it is decided before the election process as to who will win and who will lose, then it can be guessed how the public is betrayed and how the public’s mandate is stolen,” he added.
Nawaz also hinted at the presence of a parallel justice system. “When a dictator was first brought into the courtroom for violating the Constitution, you saw what happened,” he said.
“Court gave dictators the right to play with the Constitution and acquitted someone who broke the Constitution twice […] Whereas the ones who follow the Constitution are still in jail,” he added.
The PML-N supremo said that former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani once pointed to “a state within a state” in Pakistan. “It is saddening that the situation has escalated to a state above the state. This parallel government illness is the root cause of our problems,” he said.
Speaking about the 2018 general elections, Nawaz said that the primary reason for the current problems were those people who “hijacked the people’s mandate by putting inexperienced people in power”. “This is a violation of the Constitution. Has anyone given a thought to what a grave crime it is to steal the people’s mandate?” he asked.
“Can I ask why the Results Transmission System (RTS) was closed for hours during the election, why polling agents were thrown out during counting? Why was rigging done, on whose saying and why? The secretary of election commission should answer and all those responsible will have to answer,” he remarked.
Nawaz alleged the government has enforced a “martial law”. “Criminals are allowed to make amendments to the Constitution […] the people’s premier is expelled and his family is insulted. This conference should bring forth a concrete plan of action for saving democracy, a concrete policy should be made for solving the problem of ‘a parallel state’,” he said.
“Our foremost priority should be removing this selected government and this system. Our struggle is not against Imran Khan. Today, our struggle is against those who installed Imran Khan and who manipulated elections to bring an inefficient man like him into power and thus destroyed the country,” Nawaz said. “If change is not brought, it will bring irreversible loss to this country. It is very important that our armed forces stay away from our governmental system according to our Constitution and the Quaid’s speech, and not interfere with the people’s choice. We have made this country a joke in our own eyes and internationally as well.”
“I again urge this all-party conference to go beyond its traditional ways and form a plan of action,” he added.
Concluding his speech, the former PM once again thanked the PPP and reminded the leaders that now was the time to unite.
“We have to decide that we are one and if the APC is succeeded in doing so, then this conference is successful,” he added.
Three men drowned in a huge pond while making a TikTok video in Karachi’s Rais Goth on Sunday.
According to reports, three friends, residents of Kemari Town, went to Rais Goth for a picnic where they decided to film a TikTok video at the bank of a pond situated near a stone crushing plant in the area.
One of the friends slipped and fell into the pond. His friends then jumped into the pond to rescue him but unfortunately, they all drowned.
After receiving emergency calls, police and rescue officials hurried to the spot and recovered their bodies from the pond which were then shifted to the hospital for medico-legal formalities.
The deceased were identified as Shehzad, Sajjad and Zubair.
Earlier on July 21, a boy had drowned in the Khanpur Dam while trying to take a selfie. The 20-year old was taking a selfie at the edge of the dam. According to details, a 20-year-old was attempting to take a selfie while standing at the edge of the dam when he suddenly lost his balance and fell into the dam.
Cracks have yet again emerged among opposition leaders before they could execute their plans of giving a hard time to the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
According to reports, this time it wasn’t the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), differences among which have led to the opposition’s failure to take on the ruling party ever since the formation of the current government.
But this time, Sunday’s all parties conference (APC) witnessed an unpleasant situation when Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who had earlier played a pivotal role in bringing both the PML-N and PPP to talks table, registered a protest for not airing his speech.
“The government used to censor my speech but now in the APC my speech was also censored and this is highly unreasonable,” he complained.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari clarified it was on the request of a JUI-F lawmaker as they kept it an in-camera session and would hold a press conference later on; however, Maulana was not convinced.
Senator Sherry Rehman of the PPP said the party was told to arrange for an in-camera address by the JUI-F leader, to which Maulana said, “We did not make such a request.”
Later on during the presser, PPP senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Maulana’s address was streamed on social media and electronic media may air it by extracting it from the internet.
In an unexpected development, former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who has been residing in London ever since he was allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment despite conviction in corruption cases, on Saturday joined microblogging website Twitter.
PML-N vice president and daughter of the 70-year-old thrice-PM took to Twitter to announce the development that pundits believe could mean a comeback for Nawaz who has been out of the political landscape of the country ever since he was disqualified by the Supreme Court (SC) in the Panama Papers case.
Happy & privileged to announce that in order to stay connected to the people of Pakistan, MNS has decided to join Twitter. His Twitter handle is @NawazSharifMNS#TwitterWelcomesNawazSharif
“Happy and privileged to announce that in order to stay connected to the people of Pakistan, MNS [Mian Nawaz Sharif] has decided to join Twitter. His Twitter handle is @NawazSharifMNS,” Maryam Nawaz tweeted.
The development comes a day after it was announced that Nawaz will attend the upcoming all parties conference (APC) via video link.
Earlier, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had disclosed on his social media handle that he had called the PML-N founder to invite him to virtually attend the upcoming opposition parties’ confab.
Just spoke to Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif. Enquired about his health. Also invited him to virtually attend opposition APC, hosted by PPP, on 20th September.
A viral video has shown a minor kid blasting the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led Sindh government after his rooster died allegedly due to now-contaminated rainwater flooding Tando Bago town of Badin district.
Over 20,000 families have badly been affected in Badin where recent heavy rains have wreaked havoc. While 269 millimetres rainfall has badly affected all five administrative divisions of the district, Taluka Tando Bago is the worst affected.
According to the provincial government, around 4,000 houses have been damaged in all divisions while entire crops of tomatoes, onion, cotton and others have either been completely or partially destroyed.
“My rooster has died! We will too!” the kid was heard as saying in Sindhi in the viral video, standing in rainwater flooding a field, holding his dead rooster in his hand.
“When will Bilawal come to help us? When we are already dead?” he said, adding that their houses had washed away and their animals had died due to contaminated water.
The video is drawing strong reactions from social media users, who are expressing concern over the provincial government’s inability to save the people from monsoon rains.
Earlier, protests against authorities were reported in Karachi as urban flooding spelled misery for the people of the country’s largest city owing to the lack of monsoon infrastructure.
Dozens of deaths were also reported in rain-related incidents such as roof-collapse and electrocution in Pakistan’s business hub.
All the BISEs has declared the results simultaneously at 5pm today. The results will be uploaded shortly after the announcement.
Meanwhile, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha, Gujranwala, DG Khan and Rawalpindi boards have also announced the results of Matric annual examination 2020.
Numerous men allegedly gang-raped a woman in her husband’s presence in Kala Shah Kaku, town of Sheikhupura, on Friday.
According toreports, the couple had arrived in Lahore from Rawalpindi on September 16 to find employment. The couple was sitting outside the Minar-e-Pakistan after they ran out of money when an unknown man promised to help them and took them to his village.
The couple said that the suspect trapped them with the promise to find jobs for them and a place to stay. However, when they reached Kala Shah Kaku, they were held hostage and four to five men, according to the woman, gang-raped her in front of her husband.
Police said that a case had been registered and an investigation is underway while six suspects have been arrested.
The woman’s DNA samples have been collected by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency, said the Sheikhupura DPO.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a scathing verdict on increasing crime, abductions and land-grabbing activities in the federal capital, saying that government ministries and state institutions are involved in “illegal real estate business”.
IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah issued the remarks in a five-page order pertaining to the rise in said cases in Islamabad.
It also noted that the involvement of state institutions and ministries in real estate business raised “questions of conflict of interest”.
“Land-grabbing crimes are on the rise in Islamabad,” said the IHC top judge in the verdict, adding that reports were indicating how much corruption had made its way into the system.
He warned that the system was on the “verge of collapse”.
“Islamabad’s powerful elite is directly responsible for flouting laws,” said Justice Minallah. He added that there was no harm in saying that the “state has failed” to protect the common citizens.
The verdict also said that an alarming law and order situation in Islamabad was “unacceptable”.
“Institutions set up to protect fundamental rights of citizens are directly or indirectly involved in breaking the law,” noted the court.
The wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa has been stated to have a tax liability of Rs35 million on account of her foreign assets and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has slapped a penalty on her against the same amount.
According to reports, this was revealed in 164-page order issued by Inland Revenue and International Taxes Zone Commissioner Zulfiqar Ahmed on September 14.
While the decision may have bearing on Justice Isa’s future as a Supreme Court (SC) judge in line to become the chief justice of Pakistan, his wife Sarina Isa has accused the FBR as well as the federal government of mala fide abuse and announced she will challenge the decision at a higher forum.
In June this year, a 10-judge SC bench had suppressed a presidential reference that had accused Justice Isa of misconduct based on non-disclosure of his family’s offshore properties in his wealth statement.
However, the bench had also directed the FBR to investigate Isa’s familial assets abroad and submit a report to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which is the constitutional forum with the authority to hold a superior court judge accountable.
Sarina, in a written statement, has cast doubt on the order and went on to accuse FBR official Zulfiqar Ahmed of creating “artificial tax liability of over Rs35 million” against her.
“I don’t even know if he wrote the order himself,” she added.
Under the apex court’s June 19 split order, Sarina may use all legal options against the FBR order.
Sarina went on to reject the FBR official’s referring to her alleged refusal to deliver the FBR notice, citing that her father had passed away on that day.
In the statement, she claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was leading a team aiming to victimise her husband and his family in a bid to remove Justice Isa from his position.
