Pakistan: Govt panel rejects allegations of sexual assault of women in Punjab jails

Islamabad [Pakistan], May 30 (ANI): A two-member government committee on Monday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) allegations regarding the mistreatment and sexual assault of women in Punjab prisons, Geo News reported.

Speaking to reporters outside Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, SSP Investigations Lahore Anoosh Masood and Deputy Commissioner Lahore Rafia Haider said they “strongly” rejected PTI’s claims, Geo News reported. The committee called the allegations “nothing but a pack of lies” as none of the 10 women they met separately informed them regarding mistreatment.
Anoosh Masood said, “I must mention here that a specialist and a gynaecologist are present here. There’s a library present here and all women are being allowed to read any book they want.” She said that there is clean drinking water and bedsheets available here. She further said, “Even if they need clothes, they are available for them,” as per the Geo News report.

According to Masood, all inmates in the case were fine. The statement of Anoosh Masood comes after Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi constituted the two-member committee to probe the allegations levelled by PTI of mistreatment of its female supporters in prisons who were arrested after the May 9 protests. Protests erupted in Pakistan after PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9. Thousands of PTI workers who have been arrested in connection with the May 9 protests also include women.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that PTI supporters were being “molested and harassed,” as per the Geo News report. He requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to intervene and take notice of the matter. Imran Khan has urged the country’s top judiciary to take suo motu notice of the alleged abuse, including “reports of rape”, of its female party workers and supporters who were arrested following the May 9 riots, Pakistan based The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Khan’s allegations come hours after Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed in a press conference that intelligence agencies had intercepted a call revealing a plot to stage a fake encounter and rape incident by members of the PTI.

While addressing PTI supporters from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Imran Khan said, “After [Rana Sanaullah’s] press conference, I have no doubt. The PTI women workers, the way they were detained and thrown in jail, and the way they were being treated…we also heard [reports] of rape,” The Express Tribune reported. PTI chairman Imran Khan claimed that Sanaullah’s statements could only mean two things. Imran Khan said, “Either they are afraid that these women, when they are released, will tell the stories of what happened to them, and [the government is] preparing for this scenario. Or that they are scared they have done something they cannot manage, so they want to preemptively create a narrative that this was all a big conspiracy and PTI did this themselves,” according to The Express Tribune report.

Earlier, Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi was using propaganda regarding women being mistreated in prisons, as per the Geo News report. He had said that 32 women were arrested and only 11 of them are still in prison now. He called it his government’s duty to ensure that “mothers and sisters remain safe.”