Seven witnesses appeared before the court on Thursday to record their statements in the Ali Zafar sexual harassment case, taking the total number of testimonies against Shafi to nine.
The case was heard by Additional Sessions Judge Amjad Ali Shah.
Guitarist Asad Ahmed, bass player Muhammad Ali, drummer Qaisar Zain, backing vocalists Aqsa Ali and Kinza Muneer, saxophone player Muhammad Taqi, percussionist Kashif Chaman, flute player Baqir Abbas and keyboard player Joshua Keith were produced before court by Zafar’s counsel as eyewitnesses of the rehearsal session during which Shafi has claimed she was harassed.
During cross-examination, Zain said that he was stationed behind the singers during the rehearsal and would have seen if anything odd had happened. The same was corroborated by the guitarist who said that he was watching both singers during the rehearsal.
Further, the two women said they were “shocked” at Shafi’s allegations and thought they were “obligated to speak up as women” while maintaining that the two singers in question were standing at a distance of around three feet.
The court summoned more witnesses to appear for the next hearing, which is scheduled to be held on June 11.