Tag: women

  • Two more women harassed in separate incidents on Aug 14, spark outrage on social media

    Two more women harassed in separate incidents on Aug 14, spark outrage on social media

    Another video of a woman being harassed in public on August 14 surfaced on social media.

    In the video, it can be seen that the woman is travelling on public transport [rickshaw] when a man out of nowhere jumps on the rickshaw and forcibly kisses her.

    The woman seems shocked at what happened to her and we hear a scream in the background.

    The women are visibly disturbed at the sight of a couple of motorcyclists hounding the rickshaw, catcalling and leering at them.

    The rickshaw appears to be surrounded by men in cars and motorcycles carrying the national flag, which indicates that the incident took place during Independence Day celebrations.

    The video triggered anger and uproar on social media, with many people calling for the government to take strict action against sexual harassers.

    In another video shown on Geo news, it can be seen that men present at Greater Iqbal Park have surrounded a woman and are harassing her. The woman took a stick and aimed it at the men surrounding her. Then men then dispersed to protect themselves.

    Previously, a viral video showed a woman being sexually assaulted by a large group of men at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on August 14. The incident was confirmed after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered.

    Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari tweeted on Friday that 24 men had been detained through geo-fencing and matching records from National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for harassing and assaulting a female TikToker and her team members at Lahore’s Greater Iqbal Park on Independence Day.

    The minister wrote, “More arrests are expected today” in connection with the “condemnable” incident.

  • 19-year-old girl takes off solo flight around the world

    Zara Rutherford, a 19-year-old pilot, took out on Wednesday for a three-month journey to become the world’s youngest woman to fly solo around the globe, Reuters has reported. Rutherford dreams of becoming an astronaut.

    Rutherford took off in her Shark ultralight, the world’s fastest microlight aircraft, from Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport in western Belgium.

    “Growing up, I loved aviation and STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics, but I didn’t see many other women or girls doing that. I just always thought that was quite sad or discouraging,” Rutherford told Reuters. “I’m hoping that I can encourage girls to go into this field.”

    “I love adventure, and I think space is probably the biggest adventure out there,” she added.

    Rutherford will take the title from Shaesta Wais, who became the youngest woman to fly solo round the world at 30.

  • ‘Khauf hai’: Ayeza Khan reveals her feelings

    ‘Khauf hai’: Ayeza Khan reveals her feelings

    Actor Ayeza Khan took to her Instagram stories to express her disappointment and anger on the ‘Minar-e-Pakistan’ incident. The Pyaray Afzal star penned an extensive note to share her thoughts on the situation.

    A recently surfaced video shows a woman being sexually assaulted by a large group of men at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on 14 August, Pakistan’s independence day. The incident has been confirmed after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered.

    The FIR was registered under sections 354 A, 382, 147 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code against hundreds of unidentified persons for assaulting and stealing from a female TikToker and at least five other people, Dawn has reported.

    The Chupke Chupke diva recently celebrated completing 9.8 Million followers.

    On the work front, Ayeza can be seen in Laapata opposite Ali Rehman Khan and Sarah Khan.

  • Enough!

    Pakistani women are angry and rightly so. We feel violated, we feel triggered, we are seething, we are shouting but we feel as if no one listens. Every day, there is a hashtag asking for justice for women who have been victims of abuse, domestic violence, sexual violence. We are not mere hashtags; violence against women in Pakistan is an epidemic now. 

    On August 14, a female TikToker was sexually assaulted and harassed by hundreds of men at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore. An FIR has been registered. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar have vowed to catch the culprits. But is this enough? No, it is not! A woman was groped, assaulted, harassed for more than two hours by 300-400 men and nobody could stop it. Let this sink in. Hundreds of men and more than two hours! Imagine her trauma, imagine her pain, imagine her helplessness, imagine how she has been scarred for life. We cannot even imagine what she must be going through and can only show solidarity with her by our words. The state has to act against the culprits who committed this heinous crime. 

    We are angry because there is a societal and systematic rot that we must fight every second, every minute, every hour, every day! Women in Pakistan are not safe in their graves, they are not safe in public spaces, they are not safe in their homes, they are not safe in their cars, they are not safe. Period.
    This is a country where the prime minister says that if a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on men unless they are robots. When he is called out for being a rape apologist, women parliamentarians come out to defend his statement. When he later changes his stance and says that no matter what a woman wears or “how provocative she is”, the person who commits rape is responsible, we are told that his statement is a “slap in the face of the detractors and critics”. Should we celebrate that the prime minister did not indulge in victim-blaming again and for once laid the responsibility on the perpetrator instead of women? We live in a society where women are blamed for stepping out of their house, for their dress, for just being a woman! When women question this mindset, all we hear are justifications for the crime! 

    Let it be said once and for all: ENOUGH! We have had enough of this. We ask our state and our leaders and our society to end this epidemic. 

  • Woman assaulted by hundreds of unidentified men at Minar-e-Pakistan

    Trigger warning: The following content contains allegations of sexual abuse and might be triggering for some readers

    A viral video shows a woman being sexually assaulted by a large group of men at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on 14 August, Pakistan’s independence day. The incident has been confirmed after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered.

    The FIR was registered under sections 354 A, 382, 147 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code against hundreds of unidentified persons for assaulting and stealing from a female TikToker and at least five other people, Dawn has reported.

    The complainant stated: “I was stripped and my clothes were torn apart,” adding that she cried for help but no one came to her rescue. She also alleged that her gold ornaments, cash and mobile phone were also snatched by the mob.

    The complainant further stated that she along with six companions were attacked by 300 to 400 people while filming a video near the Minar. “The unidentified persons assaulted us violently.”

    “The suspects should be traced with the help of footage,” said Lahore DIG Operations Sajid Kiyani in a statement.

    Read more– ‘It was her fault, Poor 400 men’: Female stars and politicians express anger on the ‘Minar-e-Pakistan’ incident

    Those who “violated a woman’s honour and harassed them will be brought within the ambit of the law”, the statement added.

    The video had been making rounds on social media in which a group of men can be seen groping, assaulting and carrying the woman.

    https://twitter.com/OutOnAbudget/status/1427406677154975744
  • ‘Don’t want women to be victims, they should be in govt’: Taliban

    ‘Don’t want women to be victims, they should be in govt’: Taliban

    The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join its government, reported Al-Jazeera.

    “A general amnesty has been declared for all, so you should start your routine life with full confidence,” said a statement from the Taliban. 

    Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, said, “The Islamic Emirate doesn’t want women to be victims, they should be in government structure according to Shariah law.”

    Enamullah’s statement represents the first comments on governance from a federal level across the country.

    Enamullah further added, “The structure of government is not fully clear, but based on experience, there should be a fully Islamic leadership and all sides should join.”

    Samangani remained vague on other details, however, implying people already knew the rules of the Islamic law the Taliban expected them to follow.

    “Our people are Muslims and we are not here to force them to Islam,” he said.

    Meanwhile, United States (US) President Joe Biden blamed the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan on Afghan political leaders who fled the country and the unwillingness of the US-trained Afghan army to fight the militant group.

    In his speech, Biden said that the US troops could not defend a nation whose leaders “gave up and fled”, as did Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

    “I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I have learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House.

  • Two men arrested for pretending to be women

    Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has detained two men in Lahore — one of them a foreign national — on charges of looting people while posing as women on Facebook, Samaa has reported.

    The Cyber Crime Wing has arrested one foreigner and one local man named Darlington and Asif Ali, respectively.

    FIA Additional Director Shahid Hussain said that during the investigation, the suspects said that they duped people by uploading pictures of beautiful girls. They chatted with different men and then looted them by asking them for dollars.

    As per the FIA, “They force youngsters and women to send them inappropriate pictures and then blackmail them.”

    Earlier, FIA booked model Ifrah Khan on charges of blackmailing a businessman and demanding extortion of millions from him.

  • Public hanging unavoidable for the beasts who molest children: Faisal Javed

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senator, and Information and Broadcasting standing committee chairman, Faisal Javed tweeted, “Let’s once again reiterate that building consensus on the public hanging of molesters is inevitable.”

    Faisal further added that the people who are proven guilty of molesting children are actually beasts and not humans.

    “These savage beasts must be made an example out of,” said Javed.

    Last week, almost all the women lawmakers of the National Assembly, both from treasury and Opposition benches, unanimously demanded public hanging of all rapists.

  • ‘Anyone who commits rape, solely and solely that person is responsible’: PM Khan

    ‘Anyone who commits rape, solely and solely that person is responsible’: PM Khan

    In an interview with Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour, Prime Minister Imran Khan clarified that his previous comments about rape were taken out of context.

    “Anyone who commits rape, solely and solely that person is responsible. So let’s be clear about that. No matter how provocative the woman is or whatever she wears, the person who commits rape is fully responsible. Never is the victim responsible,” said PM Khan.

    “More than rape, there is child abuse [cases] which are going through the roof, so my comments were in that context,” said PM Khan.

    The premier stated that he used the word “pardah”, adding that the word does not just mean clothes or is restricted to women only. He said that “pardah” is also for men and means to “bring down temptation in a society”.

    “And I have to say because I know all the interviews I have given. Never would I say such a stupid thing where a person who is raped is somehow responsible. It is always the rapist that is responsible,” added the premier.

    Woodruff also questioned the PM if he believes that in his country the importance of Islam complicates PM’s ability to take a stronger stand against violence against women.

    “Absolutely not. Islam gives dignity [and] respect to women,” the PM responded to her question. He added that after traveling all over the world, he found that in Muslim countries, women are treated with more respect.

    “In Pakistan, even in other Muslim countries I have seen, women [are] treated with far more respect and given more dignity,” said PM Khan.

    The PM admitted that there are “odd cases” in relevance to the respect of women but he explained that such a situation was “everywhere in the world”.

    “But you look at the situation in Pakistan even now, I mean look at the rape cases here, compared to Western countries, they are minuscule,” said the PM.

    The premier accepted that there are problems in Pakistan and he linked them to “cultural problems”. He then went on to say that such cultural problems exist in every nation and are resolved with cultural evolution and the right education.

    “As far as a woman’s dignity and respect goes, I can say after going all over the world, this [Pakistani] society gives more respect and dignity to women,” concluded PM Imran.

    Last month, in an interview with “Axios on HBO” with Jonathan Swan, PM Khan had said that “if a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men, unless they are robots”. His statement was heavily critised and he came under fire for his reaction to the rising cases of sexual violence in Pakistan.

  • Zahir Jaffar, ‘sound and in senses’ when arrested after murdering and beheading Noor: SSP Investigation

    The daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat was killed on Tuesday. Noor Mukadam, 27, daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, was found murdered at a residence in the capital’s upscale Sector F-7/4 and the alleged murderer, Zahir Jaffar was arrested for the murder.

    While addressing a press conference on the issue, SSP, Investigation Ataur Rehman answered questions about the incident, cautioning that most of the details had still not been uncovered. He said that despite arresting Zahir on the spot, the alleged murderer had not given any concrete answers.

    “When we arrested him, he was sound and in his senses. He may have had a past history [of taking drugs] but at least at this time he was completely in his senses,” SSP Ataur Rehman said, answering a question about if Zahir was intoxicated when arrested. The police officer repeatedly stated that when Zahir was arrested, he was sound and fully in his senses and actions, when asked if Zahir’s legal team might, or could, pursue an insanity defense.

    The SSP also stated that while initially the police had stated that Noor had been shot, there was now, no evidence of her being shot. They did find a firearm at the residence but there was no proof that the gun was used on Noor, and the firearm had a bullet that was stuck inside.

    The house staff is also being interrogated and asked about how long Noor was in the house, if they knew that the suspect had planned to murder her, said SSP Rehman. He also added that the staff stated that they heard the two fighting.

    Police had been told about the incident by a local resident and reached the house in 15 minutes, the officer said, adding that evidence was also being collected.

    The SSP said that the case would be investigated thoroughly and even if the suspect does not give a statement, they would collect enough evidence to convict.

    Noor Mukadam, 27, was murdered and beheaded, allegedly by Zahir Jaffer, the son of a leading businessman, stated the police on Tuesday. The suspect was arrested on the spot.

    A first information report (FIR) was registered against Zahir under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s father late on Tuesday, reported Dawn.

    After the brutal murder of Noor Mukadam, people on social media demanded justice using the hashtag #JusticeForNoor, with her friends lamenting the death of a person who was “one of kindest humans….compassionate, smiling, offering her little unique gestures of kindness”.

    This was reportedly the third brutal attack on a woman in the country in the past few days.

    WATCH: The press briefing by SSP Rehman