On 14 August 2021, Ayesha Akram, a social media celebrity, was sexually assaulted by a crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore, Pakistan. [1] [2] [3] In a video recording of the incident that went viral days later, the crowd was seen picking up the woman, throwing her up in the air between them, tearing off her clothes, and assaulting and groping her. [4] [5]
The incident caused widespread outrage in Pakistan, with the Amnesty International and many of Pakistan's prominent figures expressing their outrage and disgust over the assault. [5]
The victim would later state that her partner had preplanned the incident. This resulted in a shift of public opinion regarding the case. [6]
Ayesha Akram, a nurse by profession [7] and freelance TikToker and YouTube vlogger, was attacked, molested, and looted, along with her team members, by a large crowd in the evening of 14 August 2021. The incident took place on the 75th independence anniversary of Pakistan in the precincts of Minar-e-Pakistan near Greater Iqbal Park. According to reports, the situation lasted from 6:30 p.m. to 8:40 p.m. According to sources, the meet-up event with fans was planned by the victim Ayesha Akram herself along with her team of TikTokers. [8]In her first information report, Akram stated that she and her six companions were shooting a video near the monument when the mob of around 300 to 400 people surrounded and attacked them. Akram was quoted as saying "the crowd was huge and people were scaling the enclosure and coming towards us". She stated that she and her companions tried as hard as they could to escape from the crowd. Observing the situation, the park's security guard opened the gate to the enclosure around Minar-e-Pakistan. Akram said that the men broke and jumped over the fence, surged towards her, and started pulling on her. She said that as they grasped her, they tore off her clothes and tossed her into the air. She explained that some men tried to help her, but the crowd was overwhelmingly large and they were unable to do anything at that moment. [9] [10] [11]
Akram additionally said that the mob of men forcefully took off her gold ring and gold earrings, along with assaulting a friend of hers and snatching his cellphone, along with Rs. 15,000. The police could not respond to calls in time and spectators of the event were unable to help. [9] [10] [4]
According to team leader Zaman Qureshi of the first response police team of the Dolphin Force, they themselves had to rescue Akram, of whom they found in a very vulnerable condition. [12] [13] Their team had to provide her with drinking water and a shirt to cover herself, since her clothes were torn apart by the instigators. [12] [13]
This section needs expansion with: subsection need responses of Pakistani academics and also Orthodox religious scholars of Pakistan along with references. You can help by
adding to it. (September 2021) |
The incident caused widespread outrage in Pakistan, with the Amnesty International and many of Pakistan's prominent figures expressing their outrage and disgust over the assault. [5] Amnesty stated that it was "alarmed by the assault of a woman in Lahore in broad daylight on 14 August", explaining that "at a time when the country is reeling from the murder of Noor Mukadam and Qurat ul Ain, [the] episode compounds the horror even more." [14]
Many celebrities took to social media to express outrage and ask higher-ups to serve justice to Akram, with some left completely stunned over the perceived audacity of the perpetrators. [15]
Prominent organisations, like Aurat March supporters, Tehreek-e-Niswan, Aurat Foundation, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Women Action Forum, War Against Rape, and Sindh Commission of the Status of Women took part in protests in Karachi and Lahore. [30] [31]
The rapid increase in cases of violence against women provoked a debate about the failure to protect women in Pakistan, examining the culture of impunity for perpetrators and the reasons behind society's perceived tendency to restrain women's independence and inflict pain on them. [4] [32] In a video interview given to Deutsche Welle, journalist Arzoo Kazmi commented that following Akram's assault, Pakistani society was sliding back into regressive, "conservative" policies like those of the Zia-ul-Haq era, noting how restrictions on women's freedom of movement and education lead to disrespectful behavior towards women in public places. [33] Many politicians and public figures, including activists, celebrities, and members of civil society, condemned the incident on social and mainstream media. [4] Mehmil Khalid Kunwar quoted a report by the advocacy group Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), noting 6,754 women were kidnapped and 1,890 raped in the first six months of 2021 in Punjab province alone, but the rate of reporting in media of these events remained low. Kunwar says the low publicity of such incidents makes women feel more vulnerable about their security and protection in social settings. [34] The hashtags "Minar-e-Pakistan", "Lahore incident" and "400 men, yes all men" trended on social media. [35] "#YesAllMen" trended, in refutation to the phrase "not all men" that is frequently used by men in response to incidents of sexual violence against women in Pakistan. [32] Some sectors of Pakistani society said the victim and her friend had invited fans and that her boldness displayed in her TikTok videos contributed to the incident. Some, using the hashtag "#NotAllMen", said the assault was a publicity stunt organised by Akram. [8] [36] [4] [27] A court case against Akram was filed to that effect, but the court rejected the petition. [37] The Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time, Imran Khan, blamed the incident on the availability of smartphones. [38] His remarks made many critics of Khan recall a previous statement from June 2021, stating that "…if a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots… If you raise temptation in society to a point – and all these young guys have nowhere to go – it has a consequence in the society". He was criticised for suggesting that an increase in sexual violence was related to how women dress and behave. [32] Other sectors of the media criticised these explanations as victim-blaming. [39] [40] According to Salman Akram Raja (a prominent supreme court advocate in Pakistan), far from Pakistan's argued superior local cultural upbringing, with its profound offerings of decency, the mobsters at Minar-e-Pakistan lost their self-restraint, religious or other, which would have expected them to protect the confined woman, or even any TikToker. [41] Raja said that the reactions across electronic, print and social media platforms that rapidly transformed the helpless hurled around, stripped body of the molested woman to slut shame woman saying "The boys must be punished but the woman asked for it.", claiming the victim to be an attention-seeking conspirator against Pakistan. [41] Raja said a cursory study of Muttahida Ulema Board approved Single National Curriculum textbooks since 2020 indicated that girls and women in hijab or purdah who would not seek to enjoy freedoms like music and singing have become the resumed standard of the idealised 'good woman/child' and that the assaulted woman at Minar-e-Pakistan failed that norm. [42] According to Kamila Hyat of The News International, certain people argued that Akram was responsible for provoking the violence against herself, perhaps by blowing kisses to some of her fans, whom she invited to the event; by posing for selfies with people in her group; or by allowing the young man who had accompanied her to put an arm around her shoulder. Hyat said the fact that the victim did not consent to being groped, hustled, thrown into the air, squeezed, and almost rendered unconscious is "evident." [39] Actress Yashma Gill explained that since men have the free will and power to choose right from wrong, the victim is blameless. [18] According to journalist Rajaa Moini, Akram was physically assaulted and faced exceedingly negative scrutiny because for many Pakistanis, her visibility on TikTok – freely accessing "digital freedoms" – was construed to mean that she had questionable morals, which validated the attack to prevent cultural degradation. [43] Moini said that enabling and justifying violence, specifically against women, often involved the weaponisation of their personal information. [43]
Vlogger Maria Amir noted that having video evidence go viral on social media is not beneficial to the victim of the situation, but is often the only way to attract public attention and assemble enough indignation to motivate authorities to take action. She also argues that viral videos have also been effective in persuading Pakistani men that violence against women is both "real and deadly." [44] According to Muhammad Moiz, a global policy practitioner, while TikTok and Instagram – as well as the increased visibility they provide – are newer technology, women, as well as those who "chastise them for engaging in acts of self-expression and pleasure" have become highly prominent in social media. Moiz and Shmyla Khan, activists for digital privacy and online gender expression, note that digital media simply imports "preexisting power structures" to social media platforms, creating "more tools to commit violence with." [43]
Moini noted that gendered treatment of the word azad holds "a unique place in the Urdu lexicon, inspiring equal levels of reverence, pride, and in the context of women, utter hostility and revulsion." In Pakistan, azad mulk (a free country) is, as stated by Moini, cause for "celebration and revelry", yet azad aurat (a free woman) "is met with accusations of cultural degradation, an active threat to the nation at best, and a justification for barbaric violence against her at worst." [43] Amir concurred, pointing out the powerful symbolisation of how Pakistanis have "twisted the very meaning of 'independence' and 'freedom' to cater solely to one gender at the expense of another." [44] Media and feminists also questioned and expressed outrage over harassment against women in another set of seven cases in and around Lahore since the Minar-e-Pakistan incident, including the harassment of a woman traveling by rickshaw in Lahore on pre-Independence Day evening, a man removing his pants to taunt a woman in another, [45] [46] [47] and the mockery of Pakistani actress Mehwish Hayat's Independence Day message by discussing the colour of her bra beneath her traditional Kurta top. [48] [49] [50] [51] Journalist Anmol Irfan reflected on the irony that most media interviews of the victims were by male journalists who seemingly did not receive the same kinds of threats. [52]
A medical examination of Akram was conducted at the Nawaz Sharif Teaching Hospital on 19 August 2021. [53] [54] On 20 August 2021, the Punjab government issued the medical examination report of Akram which confirmed details of her injuries after being assaulted. [55] According to a medicolegal report, she was found to have dozens of bruises and scratches on the body including her chest, waist, legs and elbow, plus inflammation on the neck and hands. [53] [56]
Punjab police formed four special teams for investigating the assault. [57] They sent 30 videos and 60 photographs to Pakistan's national database for identification. [57] They also geo-fenced 28,000 people by examining call records made between 6:30 and 7:47 p.m. on 14 August. [57] They shortlisted 350 suspects, two of whom qualified for pre-arrest bail. [57] The police initially arrested 161 suspects; however, as the victims could only identify six of them in an identification parade, the police had released 155 of the suspects by 7 September. [58] [59]
One pending case challan nominated six suspects, with the other challan nominating 11 suspects, of whom included men and teenage boys; the case was scheduled to come before court on 6 September 2022. [60] A sessions court led by Ishrat Abbas issued non bailable warrants against seven non-appearing suspects, additionally rescheduling the hearing to 30 September 2022. [61] Prosecution attorneys expressed concern over the considerable delay, which was taking place due to defendant objections. [60]
On 8 October 2021, police announced that they had arrested eight suspects and charged them with assaulting Akram on 14 August. [62] Among the eight arrested was one of her associates. Akram accused the associate of masterminding the incident. [62] She further accused him of recording videos of her and blackmailing her for money, [62] stating that she had already paid her associate 1 million in extortion costs. [63] The suspects' families protested against their arrests outside of the police station. [64]
The associate's lawyer denied the allegations and demanded bail for the associate on the basis that the police had completed the questioning and that Akram had allegedly given conflicting statements. [65] The prosecution maintained that the associate was guilty and opposed the granting of bail. [65] However, on 7 February 2022, the associate was granted bail by the Lahore High Court, subject to surety bonds of Rs. 100,000. [66]
Akram nominated 13 suspects to the police including a member of her team 'Amir Sohail'. [67] [68] She alleged that Amir had pre planned the incident against her. [67] [6] Moreover she also accused him of recording vulgar videos of her before the incident and that he had used these videos to blackmail her [67] and that he and his 'tiktok gang' had extorted a million rupees from her. [67] [6] An audio clip was found by police which confirmed the allegations of blackmailing against Rambo. [69] There were allegations that Ayesha herself had planned this incident for publicity. [70] [6] [71]The statement by a security guard at the scene claims that Ayesha had a chance to escape but she remained at the site despite being warned. [70] During police investigation an alleged plot surfaced between Ayesha and Rambo to extort money from the suspects. [72] [73] [69] [6]
The delayed police response led to suspensions and transfers of some of the concerned police officials in Lahore. [74] [75] According to DIG Investigator Shariq Jamal Khan, a 300% rise in the registration of sexual assault cases was observed in Lahore within one and a half months of the case. Jamal Khan said that sexual assault cases happened in Lahore prior to the incident, but the event seemed to have "given women the confidence to stand up" and register first information reports against crimes more confidently.Some cases were discarded after they turned out to be false. [76] At the end of 2021, media in Pakistan, namely Dawn, The News International, Geo TV, and Aaj TV, counted the Minar-e-Pakistan incident of 14 August as one of the most talked about incidents of assault against women in Pakistan. [77] [78] [79] [80] [81]
For Pakistani women, the past few months are especially difficult. From the horrific case of 27-year-old Noor Muqaddam, who was brutally tortured and beheaded within the nation's capital on July 21, to Ayesha Ikram, a TikTok creator, who was harassed and groped on the grounds of one of the country's major national monuments, the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, it appears that violence against women has reached epidemic proportions.
.. 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. ..
.. Talking to Daily Pakistan's crime reporter Duaa Mirza, Dolphin policeman Zaman said there was a huge crowd when a police team reached the scene to rescue the girl from the mobsters. According to the cop, there were thousands of men who were pulling the girl right and left. The police team rescued the girl who was in a critical condition. .. Zaman said the police officials offered the girl some water and then arranged a shirt for her so that her body could be covered since the mobsters had ripped her clothes. ..
Coming at the heels of the Minar-e-Pakistan 'incident', the prime minister's recent lament that English medium schools are creating a class of individuals disconnected from their cultural moorings...How was the mob at the Minar able to entirely avoid the local cultural landscape with its deep offerings of decency? They most likely did not attend elite English medium schools. What caused their severance from restraints, religious or other, that ought to have shielded the trapped woman? Even a Tik-Tokker. How does one begin to understand the reactions splashed across electronic, print and social media platforms that rapidly transformed the hapless tossed around, disrobed body of the molested woman into an attention-seeking conspirator against Pakistan?..Soon enough, the woman had descended in the narrative of the social media rabble to the rank of a * 'fahisha'. Highly-placed Aitchisonian class-fellows sheltered behind the cover of 'forwarded as received' posts to ask why anyone should be concerned about what had happened to a 'tawaif'. When I protested, one of my childhood friends called me 'anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam'..... Many others on WhatsApp groups, mature highly educated men with much exposure to the world at levels of considerable success, were content to move on. 'The boys must be punished but the woman asked for it.' There was little concern about the genealogy of the Minar incident. Why had a random set of ordinary Pakistanis turned into a gouging mob? What constituted the chord of empathy that seemed to exist between the mob and my friends?" * Linguistic Note: The usage of Urdu language words 'fahisha' and 'tawaif' in quote context are referring to slut shaming.
...went over to obtain a complete set of the Single National Curriculum textbooks...for classes 1 to 5...I was struck by an illustration of a young girl, no more than five years old, playing with her doll and a teddy bear at home. The young child was in hijab, her hair securely covered and an abaya-like covering across her torso. The teddy and the doll were not in hijab. A tour through all the textbooks, regardless of subject, confirmed the overwhelming norm of the 'good woman/child' that the books seek to affirm. The woman at Minar-e-Pakistan failed that norm. So would have my mother and the women I grew up with. As will my daughters. Each plays an instrument. They sing...I turned to the curriculum statement looking for the music and art content. Nothing came up. I then discovered that the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board is required, since 2020, to have all its publications and approved textbooks vetted by the Muttahida Ulema Board..
Medical examination of Ayesha Akram, who was assaulted by more than 400 men at Minar-e-Pakistan in the provincial capital Lahore on Independence Day, was completed at Nawaz Sharif Teaching Hospital. According to medical report, dozens of bruises were identified on the body of the affected girl. Ayesha's neck and right hand are swollen. The victim also had scars on her back and both feet, the report said.
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..Medical Report The victim was brought to a hospital in Lahore on Thursday for medico-legal examination. The report came out on Friday and confirmed that the woman was tortured. She has bruises on her neck, chest, and hands as well as 13 clear torture marks on her body, the report says...
Medical examination The Punjab government released Friday the medical examination report of the victim which confirmed details of the injuries she sustained after being assaulted. Signs of inflammation were found on the woman's body, the report said, adding that her neck, right hand and ears were swollen. There are three scratches on the right side of her chest and scratches on her left arm, back and both legs. There are also several bruises on her body, the report said.
The medico-legal report of the victim confirmed details of the injuries she sustained after being assaulted. Signs of inflammation were found on the woman's body, the report said, adding that her neck, right hand and ears were swollen. There are three scratches on the right side of her chest and scratches on her left arm, back and both legs. There are also several bruises on her body, the report said.
..In more violence, women continued to face gender-based violence, with the Noor Muqaddam and the Minar-e-Pakistan cases becoming apt symbols of the status of women in the country...
The Minar-e-Pakistan attack August 14 was marred by a deeply troubling incident in 2021. Over 400 men assaulted a woman in Lahore's Greater Iqbal Park on the day of Independence and the nation was rightfully enraged. An FIR was registered against hundreds of unidentified assailants for assaulting and stealing from a female TikToker and her companions. Videos of the incident were circulated online, showing the woman being swarmed by men who literally pick her up and assault her.
TikToker assaulted by hundreds of men In yet another terrifying episode of violence against women, Ayesha Akram, a woman TikToker, was assaulted by hundreds of men on Independence Day at a public park...The incident came to light after a video went viral on social media, showing men groping, beating and tearing the clothes of the young woman...The court proceedings are still ongoing.
Mob assaultsTikToker at Lahore's Iqbal Park on Independence Day A mob groped and assaulted TikToker Ayesha Akram at Minar-e-Pakistan on the country's Independence Day...
On 14 August 2021, Ayesha Akram, a social media celebrity, was sexually assaulted by a crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore, Pakistan. [1] [2] [3] In a video recording of the incident that went viral days later, the crowd was seen picking up the woman, throwing her up in the air between them, tearing off her clothes, and assaulting and groping her. [4] [5]
The incident caused widespread outrage in Pakistan, with the Amnesty International and many of Pakistan's prominent figures expressing their outrage and disgust over the assault. [5]
The victim would later state that her partner had preplanned the incident. This resulted in a shift of public opinion regarding the case. [6]
Ayesha Akram, a nurse by profession [7] and freelance TikToker and YouTube vlogger, was attacked, molested, and looted, along with her team members, by a large crowd in the evening of 14 August 2021. The incident took place on the 75th independence anniversary of Pakistan in the precincts of Minar-e-Pakistan near Greater Iqbal Park. According to reports, the situation lasted from 6:30 p.m. to 8:40 p.m. According to sources, the meet-up event with fans was planned by the victim Ayesha Akram herself along with her team of TikTokers. [8]In her first information report, Akram stated that she and her six companions were shooting a video near the monument when the mob of around 300 to 400 people surrounded and attacked them. Akram was quoted as saying "the crowd was huge and people were scaling the enclosure and coming towards us". She stated that she and her companions tried as hard as they could to escape from the crowd. Observing the situation, the park's security guard opened the gate to the enclosure around Minar-e-Pakistan. Akram said that the men broke and jumped over the fence, surged towards her, and started pulling on her. She said that as they grasped her, they tore off her clothes and tossed her into the air. She explained that some men tried to help her, but the crowd was overwhelmingly large and they were unable to do anything at that moment. [9] [10] [11]
Akram additionally said that the mob of men forcefully took off her gold ring and gold earrings, along with assaulting a friend of hers and snatching his cellphone, along with Rs. 15,000. The police could not respond to calls in time and spectators of the event were unable to help. [9] [10] [4]
According to team leader Zaman Qureshi of the first response police team of the Dolphin Force, they themselves had to rescue Akram, of whom they found in a very vulnerable condition. [12] [13] Their team had to provide her with drinking water and a shirt to cover herself, since her clothes were torn apart by the instigators. [12] [13]
This section needs expansion with: subsection need responses of Pakistani academics and also Orthodox religious scholars of Pakistan along with references. You can help by
adding to it. (September 2021) |
The incident caused widespread outrage in Pakistan, with the Amnesty International and many of Pakistan's prominent figures expressing their outrage and disgust over the assault. [5] Amnesty stated that it was "alarmed by the assault of a woman in Lahore in broad daylight on 14 August", explaining that "at a time when the country is reeling from the murder of Noor Mukadam and Qurat ul Ain, [the] episode compounds the horror even more." [14]
Many celebrities took to social media to express outrage and ask higher-ups to serve justice to Akram, with some left completely stunned over the perceived audacity of the perpetrators. [15]
Prominent organisations, like Aurat March supporters, Tehreek-e-Niswan, Aurat Foundation, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Women Action Forum, War Against Rape, and Sindh Commission of the Status of Women took part in protests in Karachi and Lahore. [30] [31]
The rapid increase in cases of violence against women provoked a debate about the failure to protect women in Pakistan, examining the culture of impunity for perpetrators and the reasons behind society's perceived tendency to restrain women's independence and inflict pain on them. [4] [32] In a video interview given to Deutsche Welle, journalist Arzoo Kazmi commented that following Akram's assault, Pakistani society was sliding back into regressive, "conservative" policies like those of the Zia-ul-Haq era, noting how restrictions on women's freedom of movement and education lead to disrespectful behavior towards women in public places. [33] Many politicians and public figures, including activists, celebrities, and members of civil society, condemned the incident on social and mainstream media. [4] Mehmil Khalid Kunwar quoted a report by the advocacy group Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), noting 6,754 women were kidnapped and 1,890 raped in the first six months of 2021 in Punjab province alone, but the rate of reporting in media of these events remained low. Kunwar says the low publicity of such incidents makes women feel more vulnerable about their security and protection in social settings. [34] The hashtags "Minar-e-Pakistan", "Lahore incident" and "400 men, yes all men" trended on social media. [35] "#YesAllMen" trended, in refutation to the phrase "not all men" that is frequently used by men in response to incidents of sexual violence against women in Pakistan. [32] Some sectors of Pakistani society said the victim and her friend had invited fans and that her boldness displayed in her TikTok videos contributed to the incident. Some, using the hashtag "#NotAllMen", said the assault was a publicity stunt organised by Akram. [8] [36] [4] [27] A court case against Akram was filed to that effect, but the court rejected the petition. [37] The Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time, Imran Khan, blamed the incident on the availability of smartphones. [38] His remarks made many critics of Khan recall a previous statement from June 2021, stating that "…if a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots… If you raise temptation in society to a point – and all these young guys have nowhere to go – it has a consequence in the society". He was criticised for suggesting that an increase in sexual violence was related to how women dress and behave. [32] Other sectors of the media criticised these explanations as victim-blaming. [39] [40] According to Salman Akram Raja (a prominent supreme court advocate in Pakistan), far from Pakistan's argued superior local cultural upbringing, with its profound offerings of decency, the mobsters at Minar-e-Pakistan lost their self-restraint, religious or other, which would have expected them to protect the confined woman, or even any TikToker. [41] Raja said that the reactions across electronic, print and social media platforms that rapidly transformed the helpless hurled around, stripped body of the molested woman to slut shame woman saying "The boys must be punished but the woman asked for it.", claiming the victim to be an attention-seeking conspirator against Pakistan. [41] Raja said a cursory study of Muttahida Ulema Board approved Single National Curriculum textbooks since 2020 indicated that girls and women in hijab or purdah who would not seek to enjoy freedoms like music and singing have become the resumed standard of the idealised 'good woman/child' and that the assaulted woman at Minar-e-Pakistan failed that norm. [42] According to Kamila Hyat of The News International, certain people argued that Akram was responsible for provoking the violence against herself, perhaps by blowing kisses to some of her fans, whom she invited to the event; by posing for selfies with people in her group; or by allowing the young man who had accompanied her to put an arm around her shoulder. Hyat said the fact that the victim did not consent to being groped, hustled, thrown into the air, squeezed, and almost rendered unconscious is "evident." [39] Actress Yashma Gill explained that since men have the free will and power to choose right from wrong, the victim is blameless. [18] According to journalist Rajaa Moini, Akram was physically assaulted and faced exceedingly negative scrutiny because for many Pakistanis, her visibility on TikTok – freely accessing "digital freedoms" – was construed to mean that she had questionable morals, which validated the attack to prevent cultural degradation. [43] Moini said that enabling and justifying violence, specifically against women, often involved the weaponisation of their personal information. [43]
Vlogger Maria Amir noted that having video evidence go viral on social media is not beneficial to the victim of the situation, but is often the only way to attract public attention and assemble enough indignation to motivate authorities to take action. She also argues that viral videos have also been effective in persuading Pakistani men that violence against women is both "real and deadly." [44] According to Muhammad Moiz, a global policy practitioner, while TikTok and Instagram – as well as the increased visibility they provide – are newer technology, women, as well as those who "chastise them for engaging in acts of self-expression and pleasure" have become highly prominent in social media. Moiz and Shmyla Khan, activists for digital privacy and online gender expression, note that digital media simply imports "preexisting power structures" to social media platforms, creating "more tools to commit violence with." [43]
Moini noted that gendered treatment of the word azad holds "a unique place in the Urdu lexicon, inspiring equal levels of reverence, pride, and in the context of women, utter hostility and revulsion." In Pakistan, azad mulk (a free country) is, as stated by Moini, cause for "celebration and revelry", yet azad aurat (a free woman) "is met with accusations of cultural degradation, an active threat to the nation at best, and a justification for barbaric violence against her at worst." [43] Amir concurred, pointing out the powerful symbolisation of how Pakistanis have "twisted the very meaning of 'independence' and 'freedom' to cater solely to one gender at the expense of another." [44] Media and feminists also questioned and expressed outrage over harassment against women in another set of seven cases in and around Lahore since the Minar-e-Pakistan incident, including the harassment of a woman traveling by rickshaw in Lahore on pre-Independence Day evening, a man removing his pants to taunt a woman in another, [45] [46] [47] and the mockery of Pakistani actress Mehwish Hayat's Independence Day message by discussing the colour of her bra beneath her traditional Kurta top. [48] [49] [50] [51] Journalist Anmol Irfan reflected on the irony that most media interviews of the victims were by male journalists who seemingly did not receive the same kinds of threats. [52]
A medical examination of Akram was conducted at the Nawaz Sharif Teaching Hospital on 19 August 2021. [53] [54] On 20 August 2021, the Punjab government issued the medical examination report of Akram which confirmed details of her injuries after being assaulted. [55] According to a medicolegal report, she was found to have dozens of bruises and scratches on the body including her chest, waist, legs and elbow, plus inflammation on the neck and hands. [53] [56]
Punjab police formed four special teams for investigating the assault. [57] They sent 30 videos and 60 photographs to Pakistan's national database for identification. [57] They also geo-fenced 28,000 people by examining call records made between 6:30 and 7:47 p.m. on 14 August. [57] They shortlisted 350 suspects, two of whom qualified for pre-arrest bail. [57] The police initially arrested 161 suspects; however, as the victims could only identify six of them in an identification parade, the police had released 155 of the suspects by 7 September. [58] [59]
One pending case challan nominated six suspects, with the other challan nominating 11 suspects, of whom included men and teenage boys; the case was scheduled to come before court on 6 September 2022. [60] A sessions court led by Ishrat Abbas issued non bailable warrants against seven non-appearing suspects, additionally rescheduling the hearing to 30 September 2022. [61] Prosecution attorneys expressed concern over the considerable delay, which was taking place due to defendant objections. [60]
On 8 October 2021, police announced that they had arrested eight suspects and charged them with assaulting Akram on 14 August. [62] Among the eight arrested was one of her associates. Akram accused the associate of masterminding the incident. [62] She further accused him of recording videos of her and blackmailing her for money, [62] stating that she had already paid her associate 1 million in extortion costs. [63] The suspects' families protested against their arrests outside of the police station. [64]
The associate's lawyer denied the allegations and demanded bail for the associate on the basis that the police had completed the questioning and that Akram had allegedly given conflicting statements. [65] The prosecution maintained that the associate was guilty and opposed the granting of bail. [65] However, on 7 February 2022, the associate was granted bail by the Lahore High Court, subject to surety bonds of Rs. 100,000. [66]
Akram nominated 13 suspects to the police including a member of her team 'Amir Sohail'. [67] [68] She alleged that Amir had pre planned the incident against her. [67] [6] Moreover she also accused him of recording vulgar videos of her before the incident and that he had used these videos to blackmail her [67] and that he and his 'tiktok gang' had extorted a million rupees from her. [67] [6] An audio clip was found by police which confirmed the allegations of blackmailing against Rambo. [69] There were allegations that Ayesha herself had planned this incident for publicity. [70] [6] [71]The statement by a security guard at the scene claims that Ayesha had a chance to escape but she remained at the site despite being warned. [70] During police investigation an alleged plot surfaced between Ayesha and Rambo to extort money from the suspects. [72] [73] [69] [6]
The delayed police response led to suspensions and transfers of some of the concerned police officials in Lahore. [74] [75] According to DIG Investigator Shariq Jamal Khan, a 300% rise in the registration of sexual assault cases was observed in Lahore within one and a half months of the case. Jamal Khan said that sexual assault cases happened in Lahore prior to the incident, but the event seemed to have "given women the confidence to stand up" and register first information reports against crimes more confidently.Some cases were discarded after they turned out to be false. [76] At the end of 2021, media in Pakistan, namely Dawn, The News International, Geo TV, and Aaj TV, counted the Minar-e-Pakistan incident of 14 August as one of the most talked about incidents of assault against women in Pakistan. [77] [78] [79] [80] [81]
For Pakistani women, the past few months are especially difficult. From the horrific case of 27-year-old Noor Muqaddam, who was brutally tortured and beheaded within the nation's capital on July 21, to Ayesha Ikram, a TikTok creator, who was harassed and groped on the grounds of one of the country's major national monuments, the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, it appears that violence against women has reached epidemic proportions.
.. 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. ..
.. Talking to Daily Pakistan's crime reporter Duaa Mirza, Dolphin policeman Zaman said there was a huge crowd when a police team reached the scene to rescue the girl from the mobsters. According to the cop, there were thousands of men who were pulling the girl right and left. The police team rescued the girl who was in a critical condition. .. Zaman said the police officials offered the girl some water and then arranged a shirt for her so that her body could be covered since the mobsters had ripped her clothes. ..
Coming at the heels of the Minar-e-Pakistan 'incident', the prime minister's recent lament that English medium schools are creating a class of individuals disconnected from their cultural moorings...How was the mob at the Minar able to entirely avoid the local cultural landscape with its deep offerings of decency? They most likely did not attend elite English medium schools. What caused their severance from restraints, religious or other, that ought to have shielded the trapped woman? Even a Tik-Tokker. How does one begin to understand the reactions splashed across electronic, print and social media platforms that rapidly transformed the hapless tossed around, disrobed body of the molested woman into an attention-seeking conspirator against Pakistan?..Soon enough, the woman had descended in the narrative of the social media rabble to the rank of a * 'fahisha'. Highly-placed Aitchisonian class-fellows sheltered behind the cover of 'forwarded as received' posts to ask why anyone should be concerned about what had happened to a 'tawaif'. When I protested, one of my childhood friends called me 'anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam'..... Many others on WhatsApp groups, mature highly educated men with much exposure to the world at levels of considerable success, were content to move on. 'The boys must be punished but the woman asked for it.' There was little concern about the genealogy of the Minar incident. Why had a random set of ordinary Pakistanis turned into a gouging mob? What constituted the chord of empathy that seemed to exist between the mob and my friends?" * Linguistic Note: The usage of Urdu language words 'fahisha' and 'tawaif' in quote context are referring to slut shaming.
...went over to obtain a complete set of the Single National Curriculum textbooks...for classes 1 to 5...I was struck by an illustration of a young girl, no more than five years old, playing with her doll and a teddy bear at home. The young child was in hijab, her hair securely covered and an abaya-like covering across her torso. The teddy and the doll were not in hijab. A tour through all the textbooks, regardless of subject, confirmed the overwhelming norm of the 'good woman/child' that the books seek to affirm. The woman at Minar-e-Pakistan failed that norm. So would have my mother and the women I grew up with. As will my daughters. Each plays an instrument. They sing...I turned to the curriculum statement looking for the music and art content. Nothing came up. I then discovered that the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board is required, since 2020, to have all its publications and approved textbooks vetted by the Muttahida Ulema Board..
Medical examination of Ayesha Akram, who was assaulted by more than 400 men at Minar-e-Pakistan in the provincial capital Lahore on Independence Day, was completed at Nawaz Sharif Teaching Hospital. According to medical report, dozens of bruises were identified on the body of the affected girl. Ayesha's neck and right hand are swollen. The victim also had scars on her back and both feet, the report said.
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..Medical Report The victim was brought to a hospital in Lahore on Thursday for medico-legal examination. The report came out on Friday and confirmed that the woman was tortured. She has bruises on her neck, chest, and hands as well as 13 clear torture marks on her body, the report says...
Medical examination The Punjab government released Friday the medical examination report of the victim which confirmed details of the injuries she sustained after being assaulted. Signs of inflammation were found on the woman's body, the report said, adding that her neck, right hand and ears were swollen. There are three scratches on the right side of her chest and scratches on her left arm, back and both legs. There are also several bruises on her body, the report said.
The medico-legal report of the victim confirmed details of the injuries she sustained after being assaulted. Signs of inflammation were found on the woman's body, the report said, adding that her neck, right hand and ears were swollen. There are three scratches on the right side of her chest and scratches on her left arm, back and both legs. There are also several bruises on her body, the report said.
..In more violence, women continued to face gender-based violence, with the Noor Muqaddam and the Minar-e-Pakistan cases becoming apt symbols of the status of women in the country...
The Minar-e-Pakistan attack August 14 was marred by a deeply troubling incident in 2021. Over 400 men assaulted a woman in Lahore's Greater Iqbal Park on the day of Independence and the nation was rightfully enraged. An FIR was registered against hundreds of unidentified assailants for assaulting and stealing from a female TikToker and her companions. Videos of the incident were circulated online, showing the woman being swarmed by men who literally pick her up and assault her.
TikToker assaulted by hundreds of men In yet another terrifying episode of violence against women, Ayesha Akram, a woman TikToker, was assaulted by hundreds of men on Independence Day at a public park...The incident came to light after a video went viral on social media, showing men groping, beating and tearing the clothes of the young woman...The court proceedings are still ongoing.
Mob assaultsTikToker at Lahore's Iqbal Park on Independence Day A mob groped and assaulted TikToker Ayesha Akram at Minar-e-Pakistan on the country's Independence Day...