Police deny reports of minor girl paraded naked in Peshawar

• SHO says incident of similar nature had taken place in the area but was “exaggerated” on social media

LAHORE: Police on Saturday refuted the reports doing rounds on social media and some publications about a minor girl being ‘paraded naked’ in Peshawar.

Posts on social media had claimed that a 10-year-old girl, following an altercation between children, was paraded naked in the area after being stripped on Friday. This prompted Peshawar’s District Nazim Mohammad Asim Khan to visit the victim’s family last night and ask the police to ensure the arrest of the accused.

Wajid Shah, station house officer (SHO) of Shaheed Gulfat Hussain Police Station, on Saturday said that an incident of a similar nature had taken place in the area but was “exaggerated” on social media.

According to Shah, the girl 16-year-old was harassed by a man who allegedly tore her clothes when she was near her home. The issue began after a fight between the families of the accused and the victim, who both filed a complaint at the police station, said Shah.

According to the first information report (FIR), the accused, a relative of the victim, had allegedly torn the girl’s clothes while she was returning home with her mother from the police station but had run away when people started to gather. The FIR was registered under Article 354 A [assault or use of criminal force to a woman and stripping her of her clothes].

The SHO said that two of the accused’s relatives have been arrested while he himself has gone into hiding.

It was being reported earlier that a 10-year-old was forced to walk and parade naked in Peshawar as a form of ‘punishment’, which was preceded by a fight among children which escalated when elders jumped into it.

Mazhar Hussain jumped between the fight and tore off the 10-year-old’s clothes and forcibly made her parade herself in the area. The minor kept on crying but Hussain continued to parade her.

Police had said that an FIR against Hussain had been registered and Hussain was arrested by the police.

The family of the victim claimed that they had received death threats and were being pressurised to withdraw the case.