Police complete probe in Lahore rickshaw harassment case

Lahore police have completed an investigation into the harassment of a woman traveling in a rickshaw on Independence Day this year.

A video showing a man lunging at the woman had gone viral in August, drawing outcry from public and leading to arrests.

Now, officials have submitted the challan to the prosecution office.

The challan, or investigation report, nominates four accused: Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Atif, Usman Riaz and Abdur Rehman.

According to the challan, the accused followed the woman, passed inappropriate comments, made a video and then lunged at her.

The police said the prosecution will send the challan to the court after scrutiny.

They accused were arrested after the video of the incident went viral on social media. They were identified through CCTV footage after former Punjab inspector-general Inam Ghani took notice.

The victim identified the accused during the identification parade which was held at Camp Jail.

The case was registered at Lari Adda police station.

The case

On August 21, a day after the Minar-e-Pakistan incident was reported, another video surfaced on social media. It was 43 seconds long.

A Chingchi rickshaw, on a busy road at night, with the back open for passengers was stuck in traffic. Someone on a motorcycle could be seen filming the passengers. There were two older women sitting in the back of the Chingchi and there was a little girl sitting between them. All around them motorcycles swarmed.

Someone close to the phone says, ‘Don’t worry about it…’ and then something inaudible. From the right side of the frame, a tall man with his back to the camera emerges and lunges to the rickshaw. He hoists himself onto its platform, crouches down, and cranes inside over one of the women sitting in the middle and leans over her. It appears that he tried to kiss her. The other woman screams and he backs off.