LAHORE: A TikTok actor who, while recording a clip along with her partner for the video-sharing platform, was purportedly assaulted by a crowd at Greater Iqbal Park on the eve of Independence Day failed to turn up for the hearing Tuesday.
The prosecution in the case had summoned Ayesha Akram to give her account of the incident that had spurred cries of outrage.
Akram has expressed “inability to show up [because of her] poor health,” the investigation officer in the case informed the judge.
Meanwhile, the interim bail requests of two suspects — Ilyas Saleem and Usman Aziz — were dismissed. While the two other accused — Shahroze and Akhtar Ali — who had appeared were ordered by the judge to cooperate with the investigators.
The investigation officer told the court that Shahroze and Ali had not yet become part of the probe and that they had sought pre-arrest bails.
However, the defense informed the court his clients were willing to cooperate with the investigators but feared arrests. “Therefore, I request the court to order the police to refrain my arresting them [for the time being],” he said.
Adjourning the proceedings until September 23, the court directed the police to produce a complete record of the case at the next hearing.
Last month, police opened cases against hundreds of unidentified men after Akram was assaulted and purportedly groped by a crowd of more than 400 men in the park as she made the video.
The shocking assault was captured on several videos, which went viral and showed a mob descend on the woman.
Akram registered a case against 300 to 400 unidentified persons with Lahore police, according to the case report.
Meanwhile, Ali, the suspect, was roughed up outside the court premises by members of the legal community and the general public present on the occasion.
