LAHORE: A sessions court on Monday granted pre-arrest bail to two daughters and one relative of a property tycoon in actor Uzma Khan’s house storming and torture case.

Amber Malik and Pashmina Malik, daughters of Malik Riaz, and Amina Usman, wife of Riaz’s sister-in-law’s son, appeared before the court along with their counsel Tahir Nasrullah Warraich, sitting president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association.

Defence-C police station had on May 27 registered an FIR against the three women and their 15 private security guards on a complaint of the actor on charges of attacking her and her sister after breaking into their house.

Mr Warraich argued that the suspects/petitioners were innocent and the police unlawfully implicated them in the case. He asked the court to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioners as there were apprehensions of their arrest by the police.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Farrukh Hussain allowed interim pre-arrest bail to the petitioners till June 15 and issued notices to the SHO concerned and the complainant.

The petitioners were directed to furnish bail bonds to the tune of Rs50,000 each and to join the police investigation.

On May 28, a judicial magistrate had issued arrest warrants of the suspect women on an application by the investigating officer.

As per the FIR, Uzma Khan alleged that the suspect women along with 12-15 security guards stormed her residence in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) by breaking the door at 10:30pm a day before Eid.

She alleged that Amina Malik attacked her sister and injured her with a broken bottle. She said Pashmina, Amber and their guards beat and dragged her (complainant).

On the other side, Amina Malik, in a video clip, alleged the actor had relations with her husband, Usman Malik. She also justified her act of breaking into the actor’s residence and claimed that the house was in fact owned by her husband.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2020