Lahore woman records statement in domestic abuse case

LAHORE: Asma Aziz, the woman brutally tortured allegedly by her husband and his employees, recorded statement before a judicial magistrate in Lahore.

Aziz, in her statement recorded on Friday, said that her husband had brought two of his friends to the house and asked her to drink alcohol and dance in front of them. Over her refusal, she was tied and tortured by her husband, Faisal.

While detailing the incident, Aziz said that she was hit by manhole cover by her husband when she tried to run out of the house and later Faisal shaved her head off.

“I’ve called a friend from Farzana’s phone to get help, who came over and took me to the police station,” she added.

The woman complained of facing non-cooperation by police staff at the local police station, saying that the on-duty police officials had demanded Rs5,000 when she asked them to conduct a medical examination. She added that the police had neither reported the case nor conducted a medical examination over her complaint.

A day earlier, two men who were arrested for allegedly torturing one of the suspects’ wife over her refusal to dance for them have confessed to the crime, said Punjab police spokesperson Nabila Ghazanfar.

Speaking to ARY News, she said an FIR of torture inflicted on the woman had been registered with a high-level probe being carried out into the incident.

She said the victim has been put under police protection.

The incident of domestic abuse came to the fore on Wednesday when a video showing the victim went viral on social media. Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi and Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari took notice of the incident and ordered immediate action against the culprits.

Kahna police registered an FIR against the two arrested accused under Sections 337-v and 506 of the PPC. One of the arrested men was the woman’s husband, Faisal.

On March 27, a woman in Lahore had allegedly subjected to vicious torture and her head was shaved by her husband as she refused to dance in front of his friends.

The affected woman, who identified herself as Asma Aziz, alleged in a video message, that her husband Mian Faisal along with his companions beat her with iron pipes, shaved her head, and threatened to strangle her when she denied dancing in front of them.

Asma had appealed to the public to help her out as she had no one to look out for her.