A distressing video is doing the rounds on social media depicting an incident that transpired on Independence Day (Saturday) in Lahore, Pakistan. The clip shows a woman TikToker being grabbed by the crowd of hundreds of men. The disturbing visuals that show her being mercilessly assaulted and groped have evoked outrage online.
For the first time in Life I regret being born as "Male". I am horrified , in deep pain and sleepless.
I am sorry "Ayesha". I am sorry all ladies.
May Allah forgive us all. #Lahoreincident #400men #Ayesha #NOTALLMEN #Lahore pic.twitter.com/Qog09OWcpQ— Jabeer Akhtar (@JabeerAkhtar) August 17, 2021
Reports suggest that the woman revealed her clothes were torn and she was thrown into the air by hundreds of men. In an FIR lodged at the Lorry Adda police station, she stated that she as well as 6 of her friends were filming a video near Minar-e-Pakistan. That was when nearly 400 people “attacked” them, reports NDTV.Â
“We were shooting the clip when a good number of youngsters started teasing me. They were joined by more and more. Seeing the suspects harassing me, the security guard of the Minar-e-Pakistan Park opened the central gate to let her enter to take shelter. When I crossed the gate and entered the park, the suspects came after me. They tore my clothes and molested me. They dragged and tossed me up in the air for fun. They also beat my team members, and used abusive language,” said the girl.
“Several people tried to help me but the crowd was too huge and they kept throwing me in the air,” she explained.
The woman explained how her friends were also assaulted. Lahore cops on Tuesday registered a case against the mob for assaulting the girl and stealing from her. “The unidentified persons assaulted us violently,” the complainant said. She explained that her ring, earrings were snatched away by the mob. The mobile phone of one of her friends along with his ID card and ₹ 15,000 were forcibly taken as well.
PM @ImranKhanPTI personally spoke to IGPunjab, police is catching all culprits involved in manhandling of female tiktoker in Lahore & those damaging statue of Ranjit Singh at LahoreFort.
These are gross violations of laws & social norms, govt won’t spare a single person involved.— Sayed Z Bukhari (@sayedzbukhari) August 18, 2021
Those who “violated women’s honour and harassed them will be brought within the ambit of the law”, Lahore DIG Operations Sajid Kiyani said.
This incident of public sexual assault is indeed shameful and raises serious questions regarding the safety of women in Pakistan.