SHO, DSP suspdended over negligence in TikToker assault case
IG Ghani orders inquiry into incident, forms three-member team
LAHORE: Punjab Police chief Inaam Ghani suspended the Larri Adda police station SHO Muhammad Jamil and DSP Usman Haider, Badami Bagh SDPO, on Friday as he ordered an inquiry into the incident pertaining to an assault on a female TikToker by an at least 400-strong mob in Lahore's Greater Iqbal Park on Aug 14.
Along with removing the SHO and DSP, the IGP also transferred SSP Operations Nadeem Abbas and Additional SP City Hassan Jahangir and asked them to report to the Central Police Office immediately.
The suspended police officials were found guilty of negligence.
Meanwhile, a three-member inquiry team formed on the orders of the chief minister will look into the incident, particularly the delay in the registration of the FIR. The inquiry team will also evaluate the quality of the police's helpline (15) response.
Read Mob assault on TikToker triggers national outrage
On Aug 14, a female TikToker along with her companions was harassed and assaulted by a mob in Lahore’s Greater Iqbal Park.
In a subsequent complaint lodged with the Lari Adda police station, the assault survivor said that she was filming a video near Minar-e-Pakistan on August 14 along with her friends when a mob of around 400 people attacked them.
She said that the mob picked her up and started tossing her in the air. “I was stripped and my clothes were torn apart,” she had said in the FIR. The victim while narrating her ordeal had said she cried for help but no one came to her rescue.
She had also complained that her gold ornaments, cash and mobile phone were also snatched by the mob.
Two days ago, non-bailable clauses were added to the FIR against the culprits who assaulted the woman, Punjab CM’s focal person Azhar Mashwani informed.
“Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has ordered the arrest of the culprits as soon as possible,” he added.