LAHORE: A district and sessions court in Lahore extended on Wednesday the judicial remand of a cleric charged with blackmailing his student at a religious school to perform coitus.
Mufti Azizur Rehman, an active member of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s faction of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, was arrested from a hideout in Mianwali, where he had fled to avoid detention, in June.
A first information report was registered against him days after cellphone videos purporting to show the cleric forcing himself on the student went viral on social media.
The case caused a stir, and outrage on social media, with many calling for a strict punishment for the cleric.
During the proceeding on Wednesday, police told the court a challan will be submitted to the prosecution by the next hearing. At this, the court ordered the police to submit it as soon as possible before adjourning the session.
Over the course of the investigation, the cleric has claimed the footage is an attempt to frame him, requesting the Federal Intelligence Agency and Punjab Forensic Science Agency to verify the authenticity of the clip.
