LAHORE: A district and sessions court in Faisalabad on Thursday granted interim bail until September 3 to Ana Ali Sheikh, daughter of prime suspect Sheikh Danish Ali, after she was charged with sexual assault against a young woman.
Khadija Ghafoor, a dental student from Faisalabad and Sheikh’s friend, was abducted and sexually assaulted in Ali’s house for turning down his advances.
According to the first information report (FIR), Ali, his wife Maham and Sheikh and four bodyguards broke into Ghafoor’s home on August 9 and kidnapped her after she had recently ended ties with the family.
Prior to her kidnapping, Ali and Sheikh had repeatedly pressured the survivor to accept Ali’s proposal of marriage, to the point of giving her death threats, according to Ghafoor’s police complaint.
According to the FIR, Ali’s family also stole valuables including an iPhone 13 Pro Max, gold bangles and Rs500,000 in cash.
On Thursday, Sheikh was present in the court as Additional District and Sessions Judge Haider Ali heard her application and announced the verdict.
The development comes days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted a four-day protective bail, for a surety bond of Rs25,000, to Sheikh in the case.
Ghafoor further said in her FIR that her kidnap and assault was brazenly captured on video by her captors. Ali — who is said to be a financier of Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan, and appeared on political posters with leading politicians, including Khan, in the past — then allegedly continued to sexually assault and film Ghafoor.
Police arrested Ali, Maham and their bodyguards on August 17 and seized an assortment of weapons and illegal liquor from his residence.
Police have also succeeded in recovering a pistol which Ali used to kidnap Ghafoor. They took him to his house on Sheikhupura Road where he handed over his unlicensed 9mm pistol to police.
Police have also registered a new case of possession of illegal arms against him.
