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Arrest of rape accused sought through Interpol

ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) here on Wednesday directed a deputy director of the Federal Investigation Agency-representative of Interpol to appear before the court in a petition filed against a senior lawyer seeking his arrest. The lawyer allegedly raped his niece with the help of an accomplice, made a video of the incident and then escaped from the country.

As per FIR registered with the New Town Police Station of Rawalpindi on September 30, 2013, Tariq Mehmood, vice president of the Fatehjang Bar Association, allegedly raped his niece, Maryam Jehangir, a student of MBBS final year, with the help of an accomplice, Abdul Hameed Butt.

The petitioner, mother of Maryam Jehangir, has been seeking from the IHC to order arrest of the accused through Interpol. The FIR alleges that the two accused made video footage of the incident to blackmail the victim girl in order to silence her.

Maryam Jehangir, a resident of Gujranwala, had been residing in the house of her aunt, Advocate Shazia Samad, spouse of the accused Tariq Mehmood. At the time of the incident, Maryam’s aunt was in England.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice had taken suo moto notice of the incident and had constituted a committee. Police then arrested Abdul Hameed Butt who later applied for post-arrest bail which was rejected by the additional district and sessions judge of Rawalpindi.

Maryam’s mother had filed the petition before the IHC in which she alleged that after the suo moto notice when police started investigating the matter, the accused, Tariq Mehmood, obtained a protective bail from the Peshawar High Court and in the meantime escaped from the country.

A local court conducting trial in the matter had already declared Tariq Mehmood an absconder and issued his red warrants.

The petitioner told the court of Justice Siddiqui that the accused lawyer has been harassing, pressurising and threatening her daughter through telephone calls and has been asking her to withdraw the case. The FIA has traced locations of the accused through telephone calls and found that he has been living in Malaysia, the petitioner added.

Referring to the arrest of former chairman of the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Tauqir Sadiq through Interpol, the petitioner contended that the accused, Tariq Mehmood, should be brought back in the similar manner to face trial.

According to the petitioner, lives of the members of the victim’s family are in danger. The arrest of the accused is necessary, as he is an influential person and has been hurling life threats.

The petitioner prayed to the court to direct the FIA to arrest the accused with the help of Interpol. The court would take up the matter today (Thursday).

Meanwhile, Advocate Shazia Samad, wife of Tariq Mehmood, had filed a suit in the family court of Rawalpindi for dissolution of their marriage and the court has passed a decree in her favour.

The News