A group of lawyers in a Pakistani court thrashed the prime suspect who was allegedly involved in the brutal torture and sexual harassment of a medical girl student in the Punjab province.
On Thursday, when police presented Sheikh Danish with his accomplices at a sessions court in Faisalabad, a group of lawyers surrounded him and thrashed him. The angry lawyers also hurled shoes at him.
The police, however, managed to rescue the suspect and presented him before the judge who allowed his two-day physical remand in police custody for interrogation.
The attack on Khatija Mahmood took place in Faisalabad, some 150kms from Lahore, on August 8 when Danish, an industrialist and the prime suspect, tortured a dentistry student for refusing to marry him.
The police launched swung into action against the suspects when videos of the incident went viral last Tuesday in which the girl was seen being thrashed by the suspects, her head and eyebrows were shaved off and she was made to lick the sleepers of the daughter of the prime suspect.
Police booked 15 suspects for abduction, torture, extortion and sexual assault the final year dentistry student under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.
"Police have arrested seven suspects, including Danish and his daughter, and raids are underway to arrest the remaining suspects," a spokesperson of Punjab police said.
The victim lived with her elderly mother as his two brothers resided in the UK and Australia. She said she had family terms with her classmate Anna.
"Anna's father Sheikh Danish proposed to me for marriage, but my family and I rejected the proposal. Danish was of my father's age and when I told this to Anna, she got furious at me," Khatija said, and added on August 8, when her brother returned from the UK, Danish and his 14 accomplices arrived at their house and forced her brother to accept the marriage proposal.
When her brother rejected the proposal, the suspect and his accomplices tortured Khatija and her brother and forcibly took them to Danish's house where they again thrashed them. The suspects also forced Khatija to lick his shoes, shaved her head and an eyebrow and filmed the humiliating episode.
"The prime suspect (Danish) then took her to another room where he sexually humiliated her and recorded the act," the FIR said.
Meanwhile, the Punjab police have constituted a special committee to interrogate the suspects involved in the sexual harassment, humiliation and torture of the dentistry student.
According to police, and the medical report of the victim, torture marks were found on multiple parts of her body along with injuries on the face, eyes, elbows and hands. The report, however, did not confirm rape.
Police said prime suspect Sheikh Danish is an industrialist and has connections with a political party.
"Justiceforkhatija" remained one of the top trends on Twitter in Pakistan for the last two days with people demanding stern action against Danish and all those involved in this ghastly incident.
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