ISLAMABAD: An additional district and sessions court in Islamabad Monday rejected the acquittal petitions filed by the prime suspect and an accomplice in a case pertaining to sexual harassment of a capital-based couple.
Announcing the verdict he reserved earlier, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Atta Rabbani said since the trial in the case was now in its final stages, Umar Bilal, therefore, could not be acquitted.
Bilal is a suspected accomplice of Usman Mirza, the prime suspect, who the complainants had accused of harassing, torturing, and filming them in the E-11 sector in July.
A police probe into the incident — videos of which went viral on social media — revealed the victims were forced to perform sex in front of members of the gang, and the woman was tortured to perform a nude dance and recorded.
However, in a twisted turn of events, the woman, who was scheduled to testify and cross-examined before a trial court against Mirza, on January 11 sought permanent exemption from the case, maintaining she could neither pursue the case nor want to appear in person before the court.
Bilal filed his request after the victims retracted their complaints.
The Ministry for Law and Justice, subsequently, has decided to pursue the matter “irrespective of recent developments relating to the victim’s testimony”.
