Videos of women subjected to harassment at Minar-e-Pakistan surface

LAHORE: Some more videos have surfaced to expose the security flaws at Minar-e-Pakistan in which women other than the TikToker were subjected to harassment by a mob on the occasion of Independence Day in Lahore’s Greater Iqbal Park, ARY News reported on Thursday.

More videos of women being subjected to harassment at Lahore’s Greater Iqbal Park surfaced after the incident of a crowd of men assaulting a female TikTok figure named Ayesha Akram.

The videos circulating on social media showed two women who were being harassed by a crowd of men at the Greater Iqbal Park. It showed that the men alongside the women kept trying to save them from the crowd.

READ: LAHORE COP RELATES HOW DID HE SAVE TIKTOKER FROM MOB AT MINAR-E-PAKISTAN

However, the women managed to reach the officials of the Anti-Riot Force (ARF) equipped with batons and lodged the complaint. The ARF officials later took action to bring out the women who had been surrounded by a mob.

In what has been billed as an abhorrent act of violence against women, a huge crowd of men had attacked and looted a woman at the Minar-e-Pakistan.

The incident occurred on August 14 when people were celebrating Independence Day at Lahore’s Greater Iqbal Park. On Tuesday, police had registered a case against 400 suspects after videos of the incident went viral on social media.

READ: LOOTED, THROWN INTO AIR: WOMAN NARRATES ORDEAL SHE HAD BEEN THROUGH AT MINAR-E-PAKISTAN

A Dolphin Squad officer Zaman Qureshi – who saved female TikToker from the mob – narrated that how he reached Minar-e-Pakistan and saved a woman being harassed and attacked by people on eve of Independence Day.

Speaking to ARY News, Zaman Qureshi explained how he immediately went to the crime scene after being informed about the incident.

Dolphin police squad cop said that he along with his other on-duty police cops immediately arrived at Minar-e-Pakistan but it took them 30 minutes to reach the crime spot from the Minar-e-Pakistan entrance gate due to the rush of people.

READ: LAHORE POLICE ARREST 10 MORE SUSPECTS IN TIKTOKER ASSAULT CASE

Talking to an ARY News reporter on Wednesday, the victim woman narrated the terrible ordeal she had been through.

“People yanked my earrings, hurting my ears. They jostled and threw me into the air as if I were a toy or have come from some other world and snatched my bracelet, purse, mobile phones and everything I had that day,” she recounted.

When the reporter asked her whether the police or security guards were present at the park at the time of the incident, the victim wasn’t sure about their presence. “Police may have come and ignored [her ordeal] or they may have not been able to notice it given a huge crowd of people present there”, she said.

She said Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and the Punjab government’s spokesperson Fayazul Hassan Chohan contacted her and assured her of complete support in the provision of justice to her.

To a question about her visit to the Punjab Safe City Authority office to get surveillance footage of the attack, the woman said she got “no proof” and was informed that CCTV cameras installed at the Minar-e-Pakistan were non-operational on the day the incident took place.